Eternal love on the opposite sides
by Clarizza
Summary: Have you ever wondered what would change if Bella had a twin and she was a mythical creature? Bella Swan is an immortal siren who has just moved to Forks with her twin sister Amanda. The girls start school thinking it'll be just another school year but they have no idea what's in store once they meet the mysterious Cullens-Who happen to be their mortal enemies, vampires.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Stephenie Meyer owns most of the characters I use in this story but I'll also bring some of my own to it. It's my first fanfiction and English isn't my first language, but please give me tips or comments if you have something to say. Hope you enjoy it. Mostly Bella's pov but also Amanda's and later on the Cullen's.**

 **Part 1**

 **Bpov**

My name is Isabella Marie Swan and I'm sure you think you know my story but before you get ahead of yourself, let me tell you one thing. You don't.

I go by the name Bella and I am a seventeen-year-old girl. Well girl being a loose term and seventeen being the age I look. Technically I'm an eighty-year-old siren. And yes I know what you're thinking; Aren't sirens some kind of evil mermaids who lure men to their death with their divine voices. Yeah, not exactly. Although to be honest, that was my exact thought when mom told me back when I was living my life in complete oblivion of all things supernatural. Twelve-year-old me was prepared for another one of the humiliating sex-talks that Renee had given me and my non-identical twin sister Amanda over the years, but instead mom just dropped the bomb on us.

So what exactly are sirens?We are extremely rare, nearly extinct. Under full moons we get tails and can breathe underwater. We can also mind control people for a short period of time and cure people's wounds with water.- none of which give us the ability to make people fall in love with us because we can't affect a person's feelings. Our skin is also a lot more durable and we are stronger than humans. We are also immortal as long as we don't have any children in which case we pass on our powers to our child, which is exactly what my mom did. My mom was a siren, but she gave it up when she decided to have me and Amanda with dad.

So here I am, living my life as a siren like it's no big deal. And frankly, it's not. I don't kill people let alone live underwater. In fact I'm a pretty normal teenager even if I'm well in my eighties. In fact, I'm almost too normal. I look completely average with my brown, slightly wavy lob-cut hair, pale skin, and slender figure. The only abnormality are the small, almost transparent flicks of blue in my brown eyes. My personality, too, is quite average, not that I complain. I'm perfectly comfortable with the way I am. I'm a little shy and I _always_ think before I act or say something.- I don't take risks unless I'm sure they're good ones. When the situation asks for it, I'm also quite emotional and caring, even if I don't show it at first.

Since me and my sister are immortal and our parents were not, it's just the two of us left. Charlie passed away 15 years ago and Renee 8. Me and Amanda just moved back to our old hometown Forks from Phoenix and it's the first time we've been back here since we lived here when were five. I don't really love it here in this rainy,green little town and I must admit I missed Phoenix the moment I stepped through our new home's door. And then of course, we're going to start school in order to blend in better. We'll be starting tomorrow, in the middle of the semester. How great. I'm sure me and Amanda- well, emphasis on Amanda- have been a topic of conversation weeks before our arrival in a small town like this. After all, I'm sure they don't get new students that often here.

I was unpacking my things and getting settled in my new room when Amanda walked in. Me and Amanda, like twins tend to be, are quite close especially because of all the time we've spent together. However we are quite different. Like I mentioned, we aren't identical and Amanda looks different in more ways than one. Her personality is a little more outgoing than me, although that doesn't require an awful lot since I'm relatively shy. Compared to me she's more of the "live in the moment" -type whereas I'm more of the "feet on the ground"-type. Unlike me, Amanda also loves dancing. I'm so clumsy I'd probably trip myself up before the dance teacher even turned the music on. The things we have in common are that we are both quite good at school, share a love for books and cooking (and swimming obviously) and we both hate the cold. Amanda is also absolutely gorgeous with her large, bright blue eyes and her straight hair that is a darker brown than mine. Her features are proportionate, angelic even, and her body is curvy in the right places. She's like the embodiment of an actual siren you might see in a movie- the most beautiful incarnations that is. Out of the two of us she definitely won the genetic lottery.

I snapped out of my own thoughts when Amanda started speaking. "So..You excited for school tomorrow?", she asked me teasingly. To that I just laughed and answered sarcastically; "I'm sure it'll be just as _wonderful_ as it's been the last ten times." "Oh, don't be so sure. For all we know you could meet someone and fall in _love_!",she replied jokingly. I snorted. She knew just as well as I did that I wasn't really the dating type. I mean, I'm not saying that I've tried to avoid guys like the plague or that I'm not interested. It's just that I haven't met the right guy yet. Now you probably think I'm just waiting for "the one" to come and sweep me off my feet, but trust me that's not the case. I don't need a handsome knight in shining armour to save me, or a man in my life altogether. At least that's what I always told myself.


	2. Chapter 2

Apov

I woke up early, brimming with excitement because I knew the day was here- the day Bella and I would start in a new school, Forks High school. I think it has a nice ring to it. I was actually one of the few people who liked going to school. I mean the lessons - which I'm sure Bella enjoys- are not the best thing in the world but meeting new people and socializing with them is great. It's funny how a boring thing like school can turn into something relatively nice when you're not forced to do it.

I loved getting ready and I think the first day of school is a good excuse to look nicer than usual. After I showered I combed through my long, brown hair and blow-dried it. I'm pretty sure the sound of my not so silent hairdryer woke Bella up, judging from the annoyed sighs coming from her room. Ignoring her attempts to make me feel bad about interrupting her sleep, I continued to do my makeup- a simple brown-shaded eyeshadow and a pinky-nude lip. I had picked my clothes out the day before and I really liked the outfit. Ripped, denim-coloured jeans, a slightly sparkly navy blouse with a v-neck paired with some silver jewellery and black boots- just my style. One last time I smiled for the mirror, and left to see how Bella was doing downstairs.

Bpov

It was my first morning in Forks and I was already regretting getting a house with my bedroom on the same floor as Amanda's. She had gotten up at pretty much five thirty in the morning and woken me up with her stupid hair dryer. I had stayed up late reading- Pride and prejudice to no one's surprise- and I had counted on being able to sleep at least until seven. It was bad enough that I had to go to school, but be tired too?

I decided to grab a black t-shirt, a cardigan and some jeans, threw on some mascara and brushed my hair. That was as good as it was going to get, so I went downstairs. I made myself a big bowl of cereal- cheerios to be exact- and started eating while reading a newspaper.

"Morning", my sister greeted with a slight smile on her face. "Morning", I answered and rolled my eyes, laughing at her joyfulness. Amanda had already eaten and it was quite late so we had to leave. "Should we take my car?", I asked with a smile on my face. She sighed- she isn't really the biggest fan of my 1953 Chevy- but nodded and grabbed her bag.

We found our way to school quite easily and once we arrived Amanda and I were given our schedules by a nice woman sitting in the school info. After a while of searching through the halls we headed to our first class, Trigonometry. Again, how great.

With my amazing- meaning not so amazing- luck the teacher, mr. Varner decided that Amanda and I should introduce ourselves in front of the class. This was one of the few times I loved having a twin. I didn't have to stand there completely alone. I mean I was blushing enough as it was.

We told the class our names, ages and where we moved from along with explaining why we lived without our parents. Not the real reason, of course. We told them the excuse we had come up with: Our parents died in a car accident two years ago ( cliché, I know) and we didn't want to move in with any of our relatives. So we got emancipated and decided to live on our own, instead. The truth wasn't even that far from the story we told people.

When class was over, it was time for what I had feared the most- and what Amanda had waited most eagerly- answering the million questions of our new classmates. I let Amanda take the spotlight and answer everyone's questions. I left the big group of people and started talking to a tall, brown-haired girl. ''What's your name?", I asked her. "I'm Angela", she replied with a shy, friendly smile. We talked briefly about how different Forks and Phoenix were and for the first time in awhile, I felt comfortable talking to someone else than my sister. I didn't feel the need to fill the silences with meaningless babbling. I had a feeling we were going to become friends.

I sat next to Angela and her friend Jessica during our next lesson, English. Luckily, Amanda and I didn't have to introduce ourselves in front of the class anymore. The lesson went by quickly and I really liked it even though I didn't exactly learn anything new. By the end of the lesson I noticed a blonde-haired boy- I had no idea what his name was even though he had introduced himself- staring my way. He was probably staring at Amanda, not unlike half the boys in the school. In awhile I heard the bell ring, which meant it was time for lunch. I wished the day would have been over already.

I was walking towards the cafeteria with Angela, Jess and Amanda. The others were talking about going to grab coffee after school and I agreed to join them even though I wasn't really paying much attention to them. We turned around the corner to the relatively big, noisy school cafeteria. It was a basic setting of round tables and chairs and a food line in the middle of the room. The fluorescent lights made the already extremely pale students look even paler and it felt tiring to my eyes. I started looking around the room, trying to find an empty table for us to sit in. That's when I saw _them_.

 **AN: Hope you enjoyed it! I'm sure you can already guess what might happen during lunchtime.. I'll try to post as often as I can especially if the story is being read by many. Thank you for reviewing/favoriting/adding the story to your alerts. Give me suggestions in the comments.**

 **Until next time, Clarizza**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So this is basically where the story really gets going. Sorry if the last chapter felt a bit rushed, I was just so excited to start writing this one (no excuse but still). Thanks for all the love, means a lot. Please leave a review if you have anything to say. This chapter is longer than the previous ones and I'm planning on continuing doing that.**

 **Hope you enjoy this one.**

 **Bpov**

 ** _Previously:_** _We turned around the corner to the relatively big, noisy school cafeteria. It was a basic setting of round tables and chairs and a food line in the middle of the room. The fluorescent lights made the already extremely pale students look even paler and it felt tiring to my eyes. I started looking around the room, trying to find an empty table for us to sit in. That's when I saw them._

A group of six people, so beautiful and impossibly perfect that I had never seen anything like it before. Each and every one of them could have been a supermodel. Somehow they managed to look even paler than the rest of us with their white, almost grey-toned skin and under-eye bags.

There were two girls, one of them had black hair and she was quite small, almost pixie-like. The other girl was completely different. Blonde, tall and gorgeous, like someone from the newest issue of _Vogue._ There were also four guys. Two of them were really big and strong-looking and they had brown hair. Then there were two slightly smaller guys, one of them had slightly longer honey-blonde hair and the other, who was facing his back toward me, had bronzy-brown hair. They all looked completely different, yet somehow the same. There was something fascinating about their still beauty that made me not want to mess with them.

One of them, the boy with the bronze hair, turned around and looked straight at me. I froze. My life was no movie, but _boy_ did I wish this would have been the moment the perfect guy falls for the average girl (played by the not-so average hollywood actor. But that's besides the point). He was absolutely perfect, drop dead _beautiful_. I couldn't turn my eyes away from his piercing gaze even when I tried-not that I wanted to anyway. For all I knew, he could have been a Greek God with his strong jawline and perfectly proportionate features. He literally took my breath away. His eyes were a weird golden brown and looking deep into them, even from across the room, I could see something wild in them that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

After a while, which must have only been a few seconds, he turned away. Instantly I became more aware of my surroundings- and what had just happened. My eyes widened as I realized it. The family, no the _coven._ They were _Vampires._ My pulse started racing and I felt my muscles tightening. Vampires. My mom had warned me and Amanda about them. It had been one of the _first_ things she had told us and she had insisted we trust her. They were _dangerous._ I tried pulling myself together, and grabbed Amanda's arm. I eyed the vampires' table suggestively, trying to make Amanda understand what was going on. She looked at them for a while and I watched carefully as her eyes widened in amazement and disbelief until she turned and faced me.

"Oh. My. God. This is so _cool",_ she whispered, her eyes still open wide in wonder.

I couldn't believe it. Amanda thought this was cool. They were murderers, vampires killing people in the school we just started in and she thought it was _cool._ I knew Amanda hadn't really believed our parents that often but she wasn't _stupid._ Vampires were our mortal enemies! They stand for death and everything but the thing we as sirens stand for. We were going to have a serious talk once we got home.

I sat down, not turning my gaze off their table for a second. I was _not_ going to let those vampires hurt me, my sister or anyone else for that matter.

"Who are they?" I asked calmly, trying to conceal my anger.

"They're the Cullens", Jess explained, giving me a knowing look.

"That girl with the black pixie-cut hair is Alice and next to her is her boyfriend Jasper", she continued. "That big guy is Emmet and next to him is his girlfriend Rosalie. Gorgeous, I know. And then there's Edward, the bronze-haired guy, and Emmett's brother Ethan. He's the one with the dark brown hair."

"They all live together with doctor Cullen and his wife. They're all adopted but Emmet and Ethan are the only ones who are actually related to each other", Angela continued.

Edward. So that was his name. Once again, I found myself looking his way. There was no point in denying that I wanted to know more about him even though I hated what he was and knew I was supposed to be scared. I found myself torn between hating them and wanting to know more. Now that my initial shock -and I'll admit, the slight overreaction- was over I could think more clearly and I realized something important was missing. The red eyes. They could have easily been wearing contacts (I'm not stupid) but those golden contacts would've never covered the deep crimson-red eyes my mom had told me vampires had.

"Why are you staring at Edward?" Jess asked me with amusement in her voice and immediately Edward turned to face me. For a while he looked confused and curious until he turned away quickly, shaking his head to himself.

"I'm not", I told Jess and decided that that would have to be enough Edward-stalking for the day. Wait, not just for the day. For good. He was a vampire and _nothing_ was going to change that. "Should we leave?", I asked the others and with that, we left the cafeteria.

In the hallway, the blonde boy- the one whose name I didn't remember- yelled my name. I turned around in confusion, waiting for the boy to speak. When the boy was nearing me, it hit me. His name was Mike, Mike Newton.

"Hey, Bella! So... I was wondering if you needed someone to show you the way to French class", he spoke with a grin- that I'm sure _he_ thought was charming- on his face.

"Actually,I'm fine. Jess and Angela will show me the way. But umm... Thanks anyway", I replied awkwardly.

"Okay. Well, I hope I'll talk to you soon!"

"Yeah… Sure", I replied and caught up to the girls, my mind filled with confusion.

"What was _that_ about?", Jess asked with a slightly jealous tone in her voice.

"I have no idea. I don't even know him"

"I'm sure he just wanted to be polite", Angela suggested.

"Yeah maybe", I answered.

I turned around and saw Mike still looking at me. If I hadn't known any better- which trust me, I did- I would have thought he was interested in me. Like that would ever happen. Well, at the end of the day, it's not like I wanted anything to do with him anyway, at least not like _that_.

 **Apov**

I can not believe it. Vampires in our school. If I had known this was going to happen I would've moved here sooner! Don't get me wrong, I am scared and I'm not exactly thinking of becoming best buddies with them, but still. I- or Bella for that matter- have never met a vampire. Everything I knew was based on what mom had taught us- which was more of scaring us than actually teaching us anything. My mom hadn't even met a vampire and what she told us she had probably learnt from her mother and she from her mother. The stories she tried to scare us with might not even have anything to do with what vampires are actually like.

After lunch, the day had continued quite normally through our french lesson to the last period, gym. We were playing volleyball and, to no one's surprise, Bella was performing pretty much as badly as humanly possible. We were on the same team, and Bella had already managed to hit both me and a blonde guy (Mike Newton, I think) with the ball. Now she was just standing in the back corner trying not to even touch the ball. For the millionth time this day, I noticed Mike staring at Bella. I was pretty sure he was developing a crush on her. I almost felt bad for the guy knowing already that Bella would turn him down if he asked her on a date. I had dated a few guys during my years. Well maybe more than a few, but nothing that serious. But Bella, she hadn't really shown that much interest to anything more than occasionally admiring Ian Somerhalder's abs and smile or admitting a guy was handsome looking.

After Jess, Angela, Bella and I had changed, we left to the nearby café, the only café in town. We all ordered something to drink and eat and started to get to know each other.

"So, do you guys have any hobbies?" Bella asked the two girls.

"I like reading" Angela replied and shrugged.

"I loove shopping. It's the best! And I go jogging every once in awhile", Jess said and continued: "You two have any hobbies?"

"I love shopping too! And dancing. And swimming", I replied.

"I mostly just read and cook. As you may have noticed, I'm not big on sports.", Bella said smiling. We all laughed.

"Soo... The Cullens. Have they always lived here?", I asked after a while.

"No, they moved here a few years ago", Angela replied nonchalantly.

"I wonder why they only stick to themselves"

"It's probably because they think they're better than all of us. I mean they _are_ rich, smart and attractive", Jess replied annoyed.

"You jealous?", Bella asked jokingly. We laughed again.

"Well Jess, you are right about one thing. They are good looking. Especially that Ethan guy", I admitted smiling. Bella shot me a glare- not hard to guess what that was about- and I rolled my eyes. After I'd finished my chocolate cake, Bella and I decided to go home.

As soon as we were through the front door Bella started yelling at me.

"Are you serious? ` _That Ethan guy is soo good looking`",_ she tried to imitate me with an oddly high-pitched voice _._ "They are vampires! They are killing innocent people. We can't get to know them. In fact, we should be trying to get rid of them or something."

"Calm down, Bella. First of all, we don't know if they're actually killing anyone. I mean you saw their eyes- not red. And second of all, get rid of them? What are you talking about? If and I mean _if_ they're killing people they're going to do it no matter what we do and where they are. There's nothing we can do about that", I replied, caught off guard by how passionate Bella was being about this. She was acting weird. "Are you sure there isn't something else going on. I mean, you know they aren't going to hurt us. Our blood smells neither good or bad for them and it doesn't even satisfy their thirst."

"I know. But still. I feel bad knowing that any one of the people in our school or this town might end up being a victim in the Cullens' massacre", she answered a bit more calmly but I still thought something was off. I gave her a questioning look.

"What?", she asked, pretending not to know what I was talking about.

"Bella"

She sighed. "It's just that I don't know what to think anymore, okay? Didn't mom know what she was talking about? I mean, are we supposed to just think these vampires might actually be _good?_ "

"Well there's only one way to find out. Let's talk to them tomorrow". Bella's eyes widened until she sighed and nodded in agreement.

Later in the evening, we were making ourselves dinner- lasagna. After a minute of silence I spoke: "Just so you know, I do _not_ sound like that. And besides, he _is_ hot. There's no point in denying that."

"Well he is a vampire. Good looks are to be expected", Bella replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but he isn't just good looking on a human scale. He's totally hot even for a vampire"

"Yeah, guess so"

"You don't agree?"

"Yeah sure I do. He just... isn't really my type", Bella replied, trying to hide her smile.

My eyes narrowed. She was acting weird- well weirder than usual- again. "What are you not telling me? Are you crushing on that Mike guy or something?"

"What? No! I'm... I'm not crushing on anyone, nobody at all. It's just that everyone doesn't have to agree with you about Ethan being the hottest one"

"Well who is then?"

"I don't know. I mean Edward's kinda handsome, maybe", she replied trying to come off as nonchalant, failing miserably in doing so. I could see her smiling to herself.

Wow. That was new. Bella never seemed nervous about someone. Awkward and shy. Yes. But this? No, never. This was the first time I'd ever seen her show any sort of actual feeling for a guy. I mean, she hadn't even talked to him so it's not like this _actually_ was a big deal or anything but for Bella, it was more than anything I'd seen. I didn't say anything about the topic after that because I'd pushed my luck enough already.

 **Bpov**

It had been a long day and I was tired like crazy. Forks high really hadn't been what I'd expected it to be. Actually it had been quite the opposite. Oddly enough, I had a feeling I might actually like high school this time- well as much as you _can_ like high school.

I was having a hard time falling asleep because my thoughts were jumping all over the place, keeping me awake. I tried to push the thought of the Cullens to the back of my mind but it crept back to my conscience no matter how hard I tried. Finally, after hours of tossing and turning in bed, I fell asleep with the picture of beautiful, golden eyes turning red, present in my mind.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This chapter is a glimpse to the siren stuff I'll be incorporating to this story. Next chapter will be Edward's and Alice's pov:s, so you'll get to see the Cullens properly.**

 **Hope you enjoy, I'll be back soon.**

Bpov

I woke up feeling a little tired from the bad night. I walked to the bathroom and was greeted with my familiar brown eyes accompanied by under-eye bags that hadn't been there the day before. I took a look at my wall calendar and smiled wide. It was the day of a full moon. It was going to be our first full moon back in Forks and Amanda and I had decided to go swimming at night to La push, a small beach in an indian reservation near Forks. I was excited for the night because I loved swimming during full moons. There is something completely magical about breathing underwater and swimming with a tail. You can see a whole new world out there in the depths of the sea. The waters of La push would never match up to the Great barrier reef in Australia, but it was the best equivalent Forks had to offer.

Amanda and I arrived at school early and- much to my dismay- we were planning on speaking with the Cullens after lunch. I had biology first and Amanda had arts so we went our separate ways. When I saw Mike Newton standing in the hallway in front of biology class, I made a straight turn back to where I had come from. I just couldn't handle small-talk with him right now. Or ever really.

"Hey Bella! What do you have?", I heard him yell behind me.

Crap. He saw me.

"Umm.. Biology. What abou you?"

"Me too! What a coincidence!"

"Yeah.. ", I replied thinking of how _little_ of a coincidence it actually was in a school like this. I'm sure there were only like two AP biology groups, tops. Possibly just the one.

"So, should we go?", he asked eagerly.

"Sure"

And so we walked to the classroom side-by-side. I gave the teacher the paper all my teachers had to sign and started looking for a seat. I nearly fell of my feet even though I was standing still, with my feet firmly on the ground. I had all but forgotten about the Cullens and this was the first time I actually thought of the fact that I might have to face them on my own, without Amanda. And that was exactly the situation I saw before me.

Edward Cullen, in all his god-like, still beauty, was sitting on a window seat next to the _only_ available seat in the room. Shit. Shit, shit, _shit_. This wasn't going to end well. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he turned to look at me, eye to eye. My body went cold. I had never seen such hatred, such hostility, in someone's eyes. His golden eyes looked black, black as night, and he looked at me as if he wanted to murder me, slaughter me right then and there in the middle of the room. That's when I realized that _was_ probably what he was thinking. He was a vampire after all, and from his bloodthirsty eyes to his tense body that was preparing to attack, he was in complete hunting-mode.

I started making my way- well stumbling my way- toward the seat and I almost tripped and fell over for the second time today when I hit my hip in the corner of the table. It was at times like this that my clumsiness _really_ made things difficult- not that I had _ever_ experienced anything remotely close to this.

I felt his piercing gaze on my face but I was determined to keep looking ahead. He was holding his breath and I saw with my peripheral vision that he was trying his best not to move a muscle. I didn't understand what was going on but I was sure that for one reason or the other he had become extremely _thirsty_. The only reason I could think of was that someone- most likely me- smelled _really_ good. I mean he had only started acting.. Well the _way_ he was acting, when he had smelled me. But sirens weren't supposed to smell good to vampires. On the contrary, we were supposed to smell like humans smell to other humans, which aside from a little sweat or perfume isn't really mind blowingly good _or_ bad. Not to mention as mouthwatering as my smell seemed to be to him.

I tried staying still and as far away from him as possible. I tried my best to ignore the bloodthirsty vampire sitting just inches away from me but I was failing. My heart was pounding like it wanted him to be aware of its existence and my cheeks were blushing as to constantly remind him of the blood that was flowing through my veins. There was a chance he might lose control and if he did, my life would end in a second. I might not even realise it happened.

As the lesson continued, the danger the situation held in it started to really sink in. If he couldn't control himself, he _would_ kill me. I mean my a-little-above average strength that being a siren got me made me able to stand up against most humans, even strong men, but it wasn't nearly enough against a vampire. Not to mention the danger everyone else in the room was also in. If he lost control, the entire room would find out the Cullens' well-kept secret- which, I'm sure, would end up in the _entire_ room being killed. I couldn't let that happen. Not for my sake.

I stood up, walked up to the teacher, and looked him straight in the eyes. It had been a while since I'd used my mind-control ability, but it's like riding a bike. Once you learn, you'll be able to do it no matter how long it's been.

"I have to leave", I said quietly, so only he heard me. His eyes went blank for a moment- completely normal- until he nodded in a trance. He would be back to normal by the time I left the room. I took a look back and for the first time during the lesson, I could see something else but thirst and desire to kill in Edward's eyes. Confusion.

I ran in the hallway looking for the art class with my heart pounding in my chest. Once I found it I knocked urgently on the door.

Apov

I really like art. I love all beautiful things, which is probably why I love fashion and dancing so much. I was painting a tree- not the prettiest of paintings- when a girl spoke.

"It's beautiful", a bell like voice said.

I lifted my gaze up and was surprised to find Alice Cullen standing in front of me.

"Thank you. Your's too", I said referring to her near perfect Van Gogh recreation which made my attempt look like a child's doodle.

"So. You and your sister. You're new, right? How are you liking it here?"

"So far so good. I heard you and your family are sort of newcomers as well"

"Yes, we moved here a year ago"

"I love your bag", I said admiring her gorgeous- definitely designer, definitely expensive -black leather handbag.

"You got good taste", she said winking her eye at me. She sat next to me and we spent the rest of the lesson laughing and talking about fashion.

It was weird talking to her. I knew I wasn't supposed to get to know her, let alone like it. But I just couldn't help feeling like we were best friends already. I contemplated telling her about me and Bella, but decided against it. We would tell all of the Cullens, together and only once we were sure they were trustworthy. Convincing Bella about _that_ would be a struggle.

Suddenly there was a loud, quick knock at the door. I was sitting closest to the door so I decided to open it. Behind the door stood a panicking Bella with her eyes filled with confusion, fear and a million other emotions. I went outside instantly.

"What's going on? Bella, you're scaring me. Listen, breath and tell me what happened", I said, trying to calm her down.

"I don't even know. I mean at first everything was fine and then suddenly it all changed. And and.. I-I tried to ignore it but I just couldn't. And I don't understand. What did I do wrong?", she started speaking frantically.

"Slow down. I don't understand what the heck you're saying. Now, from the beginning. What happened?"

She took a deep breath and calmed down.

"I sat next to Edward in biology class and for some reason.. I made him.. thirsty. I-I don't know what happened, but it's like he couldn't control himself around me"

"What? Are you sure? That doesn't make any sense. I just sat next to Alice and we talked completely norm-"

"What do you mean you talked to Alice? Please tell me you didn't tell her what we are! I mean I don't think we can trust them. Clearly."

"That's not important right now! Are you okay? I mean did he try to hurt you?"

She snorted a humourless laugh." If he had _tried_ to hurt me, I would be lying dead on the floor"

I sighed, half in relief half in frustration.

"What should we do? What options do we even have?", Bella asked.

"We could tell them"

"Yeah and risk them attacking us. I mean we don't even know if they consider our kind enemies!"

"Well, keeping what we are a secret isn't going to help anyone! Maybe we could start by talking to Alice. I doubt _Alice_ would want us any harm just because vampires and sirens are supposed to be enemies or something."

"Really? You're putting a lot of faith in that little bloodsucker", Bella said jokingly with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I know. I just got this feeling about her. It's like I know I can trust her."

"Well, let's hope your gut is right. Either way I don't think we should tell them quite yet. We've got the upper hand right now. Let's let things settle for a while and.. I don't know, see _if_ we can even trust them?"

"Okay.. But nothing more than a week. After that, I'm telling them myself."

She gave me a disapproving look, but finally agreed: "Sure"

Bpov

The perfectly round moon was shining pale against the dark night sky and the moonlight reflecting from the water surface made my entire surroundings look magical. I was standing on a cliff and all I could hear was the sound of waves and silent wind in my ears. It was midnight, which meant one of the best times of being a siren was about to begin. The full moon.

I looked at my sister encouragingly.

"You go first", she laughed.

I turned to look ahead and face the sea. I took a deep breath, taking in the fresh sea air and I jumped. For a second or two, all I could feel was wind stroking my sides while adrenaline pumped through my veins. Cliff diving- pretty nice when you know that once you get down you can breathe underwater.

I crashed to the water that felt cold to my human skin for just a few seconds before my body adapted. My feet turned to a tail, my lungs became gills that let me breathe underwater and my eyes adapted to the new environment. It was dark in the water- it was midnight after all- but I saw just clearly enough to spot fish all around me and the cliff on my right. Suddenly, I felt Amanda by my side and we started swimming.

We are extremely quick swimmers, faster than vampires for sure. We were gliding through

the beautiful waters, enjoying the water stroking our skin. Being underwater was one of the times I truly felt _free._ I felt like there wasn't a care in the world, like there was only me, the moon and the never ending blue waters. I could've continued forever if I had the chance.

We had swum for three hours when we decided to head home. It was a school night after all. For the first time since arriving to Forks, I slept through the night without worrying or stressing. I was completely calm. At least until the morning came.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey guys, I'm back again. I have test week next week but I'll still try to update. I had fun writing this one so I hope you like it.**

 **Epov**

There she was. The _girl_. Bella Swan. This was already her fifth day in this school and somehow she still hold my attention. Her silent mind, her sweet, indescribable scent.. I had to take a deep breath and shake the thought out of my mind. I didn't understand what it was about her. She was beautiful of course but nothing I hadn't seen before in my hundred years. For an outsider there really didn't seem to be anything that special about her. Yet here I was, finding myself looking her way for god knows how many times already. In the beginning it had been a desire to understand why I couldn't hear her thoughts and know why she smelled so good but it had changed into something else, something more. I wanted to know what she was thinking and why. I wanted to know what she liked, what she hated and what it meant when she shook her head to herself ever so slightly or when she looked at me with her deep brown eyes. I wanted to know her. Never had I felt such a desire, let alone felt it towards a human.

"There he goes again.." I heard Alice's thoughts.

What did that mean? I gave her a puzzled look.

"You really want to hear her thoughts don't you." She teased.

I ignored her-I wasn't up for her teasing today.

I had been away for a few days, trying to make sense of what had happened but I came up empty. There was no explanation to why this girl was so special. The silent mind was probably genetic considering her sister's mind was almost just as silent, allowing me to hear only a word hear or there. But the smell.. I took a deep breath. Her sister didn't smell like anything. And I mean _anything_. I could smell everything from her victoria's secret perfume to her strawberry shampoo- that seemed to be both of the girls' favourite- but _no_ sign of the humane, sweet scent of blood. They certainly were an odd pair of twins.

I was standing in the parking lot, waiting for the others to get out of the car. Rosalie and Emmet were having a tickling fight and they were getting a little too into it.

"Watch it! You'll break the car if you keep going" I said, snorting.

I heard Emmet laughing his booming laughter. Kissing Rosalie one last time, they got out of the car.

"Oh come on, cheer up. You're being even more broody than usual!" Emmet teased.

I rolled my eyes and started walking inside.

I was walking in the corridor when suddenly, from behind the corner, the _girl_ appeared. I wasn't used to being caught off guard given that I usually hear everyone coming from a mile away from their thoughts. She wasn't looking where she was going either and we bumped into each other. For me, it was like slow motion but because of the shock, I couldn't find it in me to move to the side. Instinctively, I quickly put my hands on her sides before she crashed into me. It didn't really help though. She was walking with surprising force and she bumped straight in my stone cold, rock hard chest. For a second we just stood there, me holding her sides with my hands and her body touching mine. I felt her body heat radiating through her shirt and her heart beating really fast toward my chest. For the short moment we touched, it was like there had been electricity between us. Her eyes met mine and for a split second there was pure fear in them. Then they softened and the fright was replaced with mortification.

"I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to.. Well you know." She mumbled, her eyes glued to mine .

"Yeah, no problem." I said, holding my breath.

She looked at me a little awkwardly and grabbed my hands. Crap, I hadn't let her go yet. I quickly pulled my hands away from her shoulders and muttered another sorry.

"Well, I'll see you in class then", she said smiling shyly.

I nodded and continued walking to my class. I had to get out of the situation. Her smell hadn't been quite as bad as it could've but _boy_ it was still amazing.

Once I got some fresh air to my lungs I realized what had just happened. The look in her eye, her fluttering, quick heartbeat and her trying to catch her breath it was all because she was afraid. Afraid of _me_. She must have been so frightened by our last encounter in biology class- not to blame her. I knew she hadn't told anyone about it- well apart from her sister, most likely- so I had thought maybe I hadn't scared her as bad as I had thought. What a fool had I been. Of course she would be terrified of me when she got to see the monster I was- who wouldn't?

I started feeling bad for the girl and - selfishly, I'll admit- I found myself wanting to make it up to her, give her a better impression of myself. I knew it was a bad idea even before it occurred to me but I decided to try to make her like me. Okay maybe not _like-_ that was a lost cause- but _tolerate._ I could do that, right?

My first lesson was French and once I came to class, I walked straight to the back row. Soon after me, Amanda appeared. She looked around the room for a while and stopped at me. She eyed me up and down and stopped when she met my eyes. I was caught off guard by the _anger_ in them. What had I ever done to her? I went through the few encounters we'd had and I couldn't come up with anything that would make her hate me as much as she seemed to do. Was she mad for what happened with her sister? I mean, she couldn't be. Bella couldn't have had any idea of what happened in biology class and what she told her sister couldn't have made her so angry. The explanation Bella gave for my behaviour was probably something along the lines of me being an ass which isn't exactly something Amanda would give me a look like that for. They couldn't know the truth, right?

I heard Amanda speak french a few times during the lesson and was surprised by how good she spoke. She sounded like someone who had been speaking french their entire life. She was sitting next to Alice and they were talking about the newest Michael Kors bags. I snorted quietly to myself. This girl was a pretty good friend for Alice, aside from the fact that she was human. Alice and I had fought about it for a good hour because I thought she should've left the poor girl be. But no, Alice had to befriend a human. Well, in a couple years when she'll have to say goodbye, she'll regret it.

The break went by quickly because I was in my car listening to Debussy. Next would be biology. Both the best and the worst part of the day. And all for the same reason. The girl. She sat next to me, trying hard to move gracefully but failing doing so- she hit her elbow on the table when she was sitting down. She flinched at the noise she made. She kept her eyes glued on the paper in front of her and she focused hard on her doodle.

"Hey. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Edward. Edward Cullen. You're Bella, right?", I spoke, trying to sound polite and as non-threatening as I possibly could.

"Yeah. I am. Nice to.. meet you", she said, eyeing me suspiciously. "How did you know to call me Bella?"

Crap. I wasn't supposed to know that. Her real name was Isabella.

"Oh, sorry. That's just the name I've heard everyone else using. Do you prefer Isabella?"

"NO. No,no. I just.. was curious." she replied, blushing.

"So, you like it here in Forks so far?"

"Yeah. It's pretty good. A little cold and _.._ too green ", she shrugged.

I laughed a tiny bit. That was an odd thought.

"Missing home?"

"Not really. Amanda and I have moved around quite a bit", she said and right after she finished she seemed to realize she shouldn't have said it at all.

I decided not to push it, even though my curiosity was killing me. I took a deep breath without thinking and my throat was filled with pulsing thirst. God she smelled good.

During the lesson we were doing a lab with microscopes, and Bella and I were taking turns looking at the samples. I didn't even bother looking properly- I could see what I needed to with a swift glance. Bella however was doing surprisingly good. She identified many of the samples and she didn't seem to need too much time either. She was smart.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and I heard our gym teacher 's, Mr. Cowell's thoughts. "..maybe I should make chicken for dinner tonight. Maybe cook some pasta-"

The thought was interrupted when our teacher opened the door.

"What can I do for you?", our teacher asked.

Mr. Cowell spoke for the entire class: "Well. I have an announcement to make. This year, we are doing something different with the school dance. We'll be organizing two dances; one of them is mandatory and during school hours and the other is a traditional prom". The whole room took a sharp, surprised breath " In the latter you can dance with whomever you want but for the first one you'll be randomly picking your dance partners. I have a hat here with the names of all the boys in this class and, one at a time, the girls will draw one name out. So.. let's get started. Girls, come here"

The girls stood in line, waiting eagerly for their turns. I tried my best to ignore the loud fantasies- some of which much to my dismay included me- going through the girls' heads. The only mind I would've liked to hear was dead silent. She stood in line, last, and she was nervous- I could tell from the way she was biting her nails and impatiently shifting her weight from one leg to the other. Oh, what would I have given just to _know_ what she was thinking and who she wanted to dance with. Suddenly I realized that, even thought the chance was small, she might get me as her pair. There were two feelings going through me: terror and _hope._ As much as I was trying to convince myself of how much of a bad idea dancing with her would be for the both of us, I found myself wishing for my name to appear on that small piece of paper. Like the pathetic human boys around me hoping to get their dream girl, for the slightest moment, I found myself imagining..

Her turn came around and she took out the first paper she got her hands on. Her heart skipped a beat when she read the name. She turned around and looked me straight in the eye with a million feeling going through her eyes. She walked up to me and showed the paper, surprisingly with my name on it.

"I guess we'll be partners then", she shrugged smiling awkwardly with an almost apologetic look in her eyes. I smiled at her.

"Guess so."

This would not end well. I knew that.

But I still loved it.


	6. Chapter 6

**_AN: Sorry for being away so long, I just didn't have so much motivation to write last week. But now I'm back and I hope you enjoy it!_**

 ** _Side note: I just noticed that the story has been moving way too slowly (is it just me XD?) up until this point so I'm going to speed things up a bit, bring some action(and some romance) to the story._**

 _Bpov_

I woke up suddenly when I noticed I couldn't feel my hand. I had been sleeping on my stomach, with my hand squished under my body and now, it had gone completely numb. I couldn't move it but slowly blood started pumping to my fingertips. After feeling the annoying tingling all over my arm for a few minutes, everything was back to normal and the occurrences of the day before flooded back to my mind. I sighed to myself quietly and threw myself back against the pillow. I didn't want to go to school.

Amanda was still humming and dancing to herself in the hallway when it was time for us to leave. I just couldn't make sense of how happy she always was. Today was going to be the first practice for the school dance and Amanda was brimming with enthusiasm because of her partner. She had been paired with Ethan of all the guys -I know. What are the chances?- and she couldn't have been happier. Ethan was single, handsome and smart- just Amanda's type- but what she seemed to forget was that he was still a vampire. Not unlike my pair of course.

Edward Cullen. I seriously couldn't make sense of that guy. One minute it's like he's planning my murder behind his cold, harsh look and the next he's like the sweetest guy I've ever met. It's like he has a split personality or something. Either way, he has seemed a lot nicer the past few days. Add his looks that- I've said it before and I'll say it again- are beyond words and you've got yourself a pretty perfect guy. Well that would be if he weren't a vampire who wants to kill me.

So yeah, you could say that the odds were sort of in my favor when the dance partners were picked. The thing just is that my dance skills are absolute crap even without any additional distractions. And Edward? He is the very definition of a distraction. When he's around, I can't breathe normally. I can't walk without stumbling to my own feet. Hell I can't even form coherent sentences! I just stare into his eyes like an _idiot_ while my whole body is aware of the fact that he's there because of the weird electricity that his presence evokes in me. So you can probably understand how bad I'll be at dancing when he's _right_ there in front of me with his amber eyes and perfect, crooked smile. I'll be lucky if I survive without breaking bones! Guess there's one good thing in having a vampire for a partner- at least I won't injure anyone else but myself.

Once Amanda and I arrived at school, we had both noticed the icy ground. I had walked to the car so slowly that the few yards it was from the door to the car had taken an entire minute. I didn't want to take any chances because the layer of clear ice covering the ground was practically a guarantee for me to fall if I didn't watch where I went. We were walking to class when I realized I forgot my phone in the car. I decided to head back and catch up to Amanda later.

I grabbed my phone quickly from the car and put headphones in my ears. The sound of Shawn Mendes's lovely voice filled my mind as I closed the car door and decided to leave for class. That's when it happened.

It all happened really fast, yet somehow I was completely aware of what was going on. The first thing I saw was Edward, Ethan and Alice standing by their car on the other side of the parking lot. I followed Edward's horrified look only to see Tyler Crowley's car spiraling uncontrollably straight towards me with surprising speed. It was like I was the car's target, the optimal thing for the car to hit. I would be smashed between the back of his car and the side of mine.

That was when my reaction reached my muscles. I contemplated what to do and realized that I didn't have time to get out of the way. I would have to stop the car, at least the initial crash, with my hands and body. I took a firm position and a deep breath. I was strong enough to do this. I had to be.

I prepared to take the hit and faced the car with determination in my eyes. I felt the car hit me and winced in pain of the strength of the impact. _That_ would leave a lot of bruises. To my horror, I noticed that the car didn't stop there but kept moving. It was about to hit me for the second time, only this time the front of the car. That's when I thought I was going to die- I didn't think I could take another hit. And it never came. I opened my eyes and realized that between me and Tyler's car stood Edward. He had pushed me back with his right hand, his left hand digging to the side of Tyler's van. _He_ had saved me.

I looked at him in complete shock and he responded to my look with just as much- if not more- confusion in his eyes.

I went around the car and grabbed Tyler by the arm to catch his attention.

"Oh my god Bella are you alright? I'm so sorry! I didn't-", he spoke hurriedly with eyes open wide.

"Stop", I cut him off. I had to mindcontrol him to forget everything that just happened. "You will not remember anything about the accident. Your car just spiraled out of control because of how slippery it was. You didn't hit anyone or anything", I spoke clearly, looking into his eyes with concentration. His eyes looked empty for a second, but he snapped back to reality quickly.

I left him there once I was sure he didn't remember anything. Great. Now I just had _Edward_ to worry about. _That_ would surely be interesting. He was standing a few yards away from my car and he looked at me, obviously waiting for an explanation, but he was in too much of a shock to ask one. I walked straight past him holding my left arm that was hurting like hell, without turning my gaze. I knew I had to come up with some sort of an explanation before I was going to talk to him. I wouldn't have to wait long before he would confront me about it even though I would've wanted to postpone it forever.

Later that day, at the end of fourth period, it was time for gym. So dance practice it was.

I walked into the big gym with Amanda by my side and I could see her eyes light up ever so slightly when she saw Ethan. That was new. Usually she treated guys pretty coldly, not letting herself get too attached to them.

We walked up to Jess and Angela and it wasn't hard to tell what Jess was thinking. She was looking at Lauren, Mike's partner, with _obvious_ bitterness in her eyes. Angela, on the other hand, was disguising her inner feelings pretty well, with only the slight sign of anticipation in her eyes and her impatiently flickering hands giving away her excitement over her partner, Ben.

"Hello everyone! Today we will be starting to learn the dance routines for the school dance. We'll be starting with perhaps the most traditional dances of all, Waltz", our gym teacher mr. Cowell said with a proud tone in his voice. I almost wanted to snort. "Please walk up to your partners!"

I turned to face Edward who stood on the other side of the room hesitantly. Our eyes met and I couldn't help the warm feeling bubbling inside of me. I was so nervous. I would have been even if I hadn't just this morning basically revealed that I wasn't human- which me stopping a car with my bare hands definitely had proved. I could see the doubtfulness in his eyes, he wasn't going to let me out of this one easily. I knew right then and there that he was going to ask for explanations and he wasn't going to take my lame excuses.

"Let me warn you. I can't dance. Like, at all", I said laughing nervously. _I_ definitely wasn't going to be the one bringing up our encounter this morning.

"Well we're here to learn, aren't we?" He said smiling, holding his hands open at me. I could see the burning curiosity behind his -pretended for all I knew- kindness.

I had to take a deep breath and look away from his eyes. Otherwise I might faint or fall even _before_ the actual dancing even started. I walked a few steps forward and took his hands. They were cold and rock hard but I'd never felt safer in anyone else's presence-which of course didn't make much sense considering what he was. With his hand on my waist I forgot all about the fact that I should've been fearing for my life and I relaxed, just the tiniest bit.

Mr. Cowell shoved the steps over and over again and even though I could _see_ how simple they were I kept messing it up. My feet would get tangled and I would- for the twentieth time for all I knew- step on Edwards foot. And I don't mean touch the tips of his toes gently, I mean crash his entire foot under my step.

"I'm so sorry. I told you I was bad", I said trying to laugh off the situation.

He laughed. "You're getting better by the second! I'm sure that by the third practice you'll be stepping on my toes only _once_ a minute!", he said teasingly with amusement and kindness in his eyes.

At that I had to laugh. "You'll be lucky if you can walk then. At this rate I doubt it." I realized as I said it that that wasn't going to happen but decided to say it anyway, see how he reacts.

"Well, I like to think I'm a bit more.. durable than most people. I'm sure I'll remain mostly intact", he said with surprisingly much feeling behind the seemingly teasing look he gave me.

Oh that's how we're playing it. We had ignored the accident for the whole class- all 40 minutes of it- but now he was getting impatient. He wanted to get answers even if getting them would mean me asking questions about the things he had done- they hadn't been any closer to human than what I did. If he was going to give me cryptic little hints of what he was, I could do just the same. Oh Edward, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into.

"So Bella, while we're rehearsing this dance,we _could_ get to know each other."

"Fine by me. So.. how old are you?", I asked him smiling and waiting for his reaction. Age was surely going to be a sensitive spot for the vampire he was.

"I'm seventeen", he said after a few seconds without flinching even the tiniest bit. Damn, he was a good liar. Almost too good.

"What's your favourite colour?"

"It depends. I like blue, navy blue. And brown, topaz maybe."

He looked at me incredulously but didn't question my- I'll admit it- weird answer.

"What's your favourite food?", I asked, hiding the grin that would've otherwise been covering my face. That would have to give him a hard time.

A flash of surprise, curiosity and doubt went through his eyes. He composed himself quickly though, but waited longer than usual before he spoke.

"I like meat. Nothing beats some good deer"

Nothing _except_ some human blood straight from the source of course, I thought to myself and nodded.

"Do you have any hobbies, sports maybe? I mean you do seem to be _quite a bit_ stronger than what your looks let in on", he said with a meaningful look behind his playful smile.

So there it was. That was no longer a subtle hint. He basically just said it exactly how it was.

"We should probably talk", I said seriously. I was interrupted by Mr. Cowell telling us that we could go home. Perfect timing.

"How about we take a walk in the woods?", I asked.

"After you", he said, signaling me to leave the room with his hand. My pulse was racing of anxiousness and, to be honest, fear. A part of me was definitely excited to tell him but the other part.. Terrified. Walking there beside him, I realized I couldn't- no I _shouldn't-_ do this alone. I wanted Amanda to be there. I _needed_ her to be there.

I took a look around the room and when I saw her, I signaled her to join us with my head. Her eyes went wide for a while and I nodded slightly- I was sure she knew what I was thinking of doing. She took Alice with her and the four of us started walking to the foggy woods of Forks in heavy silence. All I felt was my fast heartbeat throbbing in my ears,but somehow I knew I was safe. I guess a part of me was certain this would all turn out for the best. I wished with all my heart that that part would turn out to be right.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey everyone! I had a lot of fun writing this one. (I wrote most of it during my 6-hour flight) I really hope you guys like it. It's definitely my favourite so far!**

 **I really like where the story is headed and I'm starting to get a better clue of the kind of things I want to do next. Please leave comments for me, I'd love to read them.**

 **But without further ado let's get into it!**

 **Apov**

What in the world was Bella thinking? A few days ago she had been completely against the idea of telling the Cullens about what we were and now, _she_ was the one running off to tell them. I wasn't complaining because I had wanted to tell them all along. Still, I couldn't shake the weird feeling I had. For the first time I was worried and I didn't know whether telling them was a good idea or not, after all.

I could see that Bella was nervous- as she should be. We had crossed the parking lot in silence and arrived in the woods. Bella made a halt stop and took a deep breath. I had no idea how we were supposed to tell them. How could we even begin explaining?

"Okay. You probably have no idea what's going on but Amanda and I.. We have something to tell you", Bella spoke. I didn't know if her words were directed just for Alice or both of the vampires standing before us.

Bella seemed to struggle with finding the right words, so I continued: "We weren't sure if we should tell you. We didn't know if we could trust you. You know, with what you are and all." They both froze with a blank look on their faces.

"What she means to say is that we.. We know what you are and we are a part of the supernatural, too. We didn't know if you would consider our kind, if you would consider _us_ , enemies", Bella continued without meeting either of the Cullens looks.

"We're what most people would call sirens. Well most people don't know about us but those who do. And that really isn't a lot, I mean you probably haven't even heard of our kind. We are quite rare", I spoke quickly but was cut off by Bella who gave me a meaningful look. Right, I had started rambling nonsense that wasn't really relevant- a thing I did whenever I was nervous.

Alice and Edward stood there silently for a second and then Alice started speaking: "So.. Let me get this straight. You.. aren't human?" Both of us nodded slightly. "Well that sure explains a lot", Alice said and let out a nervous laugh. "All this time I had a feeling there was something off about the two of you, what with Edward not hearing your thoughts, me not being able to see you properly and the whole smell thing. I was right all along!"

Now it was time for Bella and I to look confused. "Oh right. You don't know about our powers. I can see the future, Edward reads minds and Ethan has the ability to move objects without touching them. You know, telekinesis", Alice said nonchalantly as if she was talking about doing the dishes or something as ordinary as that. I guess for her it was exactly that. Ordinary.

Edward was still standing silently not returning Bella's gaze and clearly, she would've liked him to. "Perhaps we should go", I said, speaking to Alice. They needed some privacy.

We walked back to the parking lot where the whole thing finally sunk in. I had never known anyone, besides my family members, who knew the secret Bella and I protected with all we had. I had never known anyone immortal, anyone I could truly build a long term friendship with. Just the existence of the possibility that I could be friends with Alice even a hundred years from now, made me incredibly happy. I turned to look at Alice and was greeted with a grin just as large as mine.

"You have to tell me everything", she said without letting her smile fade away.

And so we drove back to my house and I told her about everything from what it was like being a siren to the many mishaps I had made during the years.

"-and you know what happened then? Bella went completely red. She was mortified! She'd had no idea I set her up for a double date. She had thought it was going to be just a girls night out", I continued my story to Alice who might have choked on fits of laughter if she hadn't been incapable of it. That's when I heard the door open. As soon as I saw Bella I realized that I had completely forgotten about her. It had been hours since Alice and I had left the school and she came home only _now_?

"Hey. Oh Alice. You're here. Great", Bella said, the smile on her face not quite meeting her eyes. Something had happened.

"Did he.. Say something?", Alice asked clearly doubting Edward.

"No. It's all good. I just.. Explained all the details for him. That's all", Bella sighed, trying to seem cheerful.

"Bella, I actually wanted to talk to you about something"', Alice said. I gave her a confused look. "About Edward actually."

"Sure. What is it?", she asked trying to seem indifferent.

"He can be a little...harsh. Sometimes. He means well. Trust me. He just isn't the most.. social person. He's been alone for a long time and he just blames himself for everything. He doesn't really think he deserves to be happy or truly _live_ ", Alice said with obvious sadness in her voice- it was clear that they were very close. "But I think you might do him some good. I mean you already have! He hasn't been this lively for years, decades even. You make him different. You make him feel like he might deserve happiness."

I could see Bella was on the verge of tears. What in the world had I _missed_? Alice was talking like Bella was Edward's one true love- his mate- or something. Was there something going on between the two of them? I knew Bella was different around him- anyone could see that she lit up in his presence- but I hadn't realized there might be something more there. I hadn't realized Bella would actually like him: I couldn't picture him being any more special- in nature that is, not looks- than any other human guy she might have met. And Bella wasn't one to fall just for looks (well she hadn't been one to fall period, up until this point).

"I should go to bed", she said and proceeded to head upstairs.

"No, please! Wait", Alice continued.

Bella hesitated for a second but turned around and faced her.

"You might not see it yet. You might not have _any_ idea of what I'm saying. Hell, you might even think I'm just a crazy vampire. But trust me when I tell you, you are meant for each other. One day you'll understand it. I may not see you sirens clearly but this, I saw crystal clear", she spoke.

I knew Bella didn't believe Alice. Bella wasn't one to believe in stuff like that. With that and a mumbled "good night", she left upstairs.

 **Bpov**

"Perhaps we should go", Amanda said in an attempt to give Edward and I some privacy. She signaled Alice to follow her and it was just Edward and I left in the woods. The silence was heavy and the longer it lingered the more anxious I got.

"Please say something", I said in defeat after a while.

"I don't know what to say. I can't believe I didn't see it before! It makes perfect sense. The silent mind, your smell, the comments, all of it. You've known all along. No wonder you hate me"

What? I was too puzzled to speak. Is that what he thought of me?

"I don't hate you! Never have and, if I have a say about it, never will. I don't particularly like you. I mean I can't. The whole blood thing is supposed to be sort of a deal breaker. And listen: I'm not judging you. I'm just saying that I can't just.. be okay with it", I said.

"Oh. We don't actually drink any human blood. Just grizzlies and deer for us! Well, that's what we try to do at least. And we're pretty good at controlling our thirst. Well, in _normal_ circumstances", he said, referring to our first encounter, I thought.

I looked at him in wonder. This changed everything. My mom's claims of vampires being the most monstrous things on earth started to seem farther and farther away from what the Cullens actually were like. They didn't kill people. Suddenly, ever thinking that they did felt wrong and I saw Edward with new eyes. I had always thought he was handsome and kind, someone I might have wanted to get to know. Looking back now I may even admit that I might have had a small crush on him. But now? It was entirely different. I'd been fighting these feelings since the moment I laid eyes on him and now it was like they were set free. I didn't need to convince myself of how wrong my feelings were, not feel guilty of it. Yes he was still a vampire. But I wasn't human either: who was I to judge him? As if I even could judge him. I don't think I could ever _really_ think badly of the wonderful person, vampire or not, that I somehow deep down knew he was.

I realized I hadn't spoken for a while and responded hastily: "Biology class. Yeah, I remember. Do you know why I smell like that to you? I mean why me?"

"I don't have the slightest clue. I guess it's just a matter of preference. Amanda smells completely neutral to me", he said.

"As she should."

"I guess you're just special. You seem to be the exception no matter the rule, don't you? Maybe that's why I find you so interesting", he said talking quietly, halfly _to_ himself.

"You find me interesting?", I snorted. Like that would ever happen.

"Most definitely yes. There is something special about you, Bella Swan."

I looked into his deep amber eyes and felt as if I might get lost in them. Not that I would have minded it.

"Well.. Right back at you Edward. You're quite an interesting person yourself", I said quietly, caressing the sound of his name as I said it. "So you haven't heard of our kind before, right?", I continued in an attempt of changing the subject.

"No, never. It's sort of weird actually. I've met a lot of vampires and read each of their minds but never come across it. So what actually makes sirens.. well, sirens?"

"Well, we're immortal and during full moons we can grow temporary tails. We are stronger than humans and we aren't hurt as easily. Not anywhere near you guys, though. Oh, we can also make people, humans that is, do what we want them to. That's why Tyler doesn't remember me being hit by the car", I explained automatically and stopped instantly when I realized we had yet to talk about the accident. With genuine gratitude I continued: "Thanks for that by the way. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't.. well, run in and saved me." I still can't believe he risked his cover to save me, the unimportant, mere human girl he had seen- and for all I knew still saw- me as

"It was the least I could do. I didn't really have a choice", he said with a blank voice.

"Of course you had. You could've not saved me."

"Well.. I did. I don't know why, but I did."

Ouch. The conversation was quickly getting too deep not to mention too dark. I wanted to change the topic.

"You know you never answered my question. How old are you?", I said.

"You first."

"I'm 82."

"94", he said.

"Guess we're just a pair of senior citizens then", I laughed.

There was silence for a while. Suddenly I noticed that Edward and I had moved closer to each other while we had talked: we were both leaning in and we were surprisingly close to each other. Maybe he was getting more and more used to my scent. My heart started beating quicker and quicker the longer I kept looking into his eyes. I felt a strong desire to touch him, take his hand and feel his cold skin on mine. I bit my lower lip to stop myself from pursuing the thought. It was getting unbearable and I could feel the electricity in the air crystal clear.

"We should probably leave", he said, not taking his eyes off me.

I took a look around and realized it had become dark. Reality had become blurry and I hadn't paid any attention to my surroundings- Edward had once again, unsurprisingly, been the only thing grabbing my attention.

"Yeah. That's probably a good idea", I said.

We started walking to our cars but once we were there I was faced with a dilemma: Amanda had taken the car. Shit. How could she just have taken the car without asking from me? This is something typical she would do! I'd just have to walk.

"You coming?", Edward asked behind me.

I looked at him puzzledly.

"Amanda took your car, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna walk home", I said.

"Oh, don't be silly. I have four empty seats in my car. Come on, I'll take you home."

I looked at him and contemplated whether I should go with him or not until I decided to follow him. It was a cold evening after all. I proceeded to open the car door but he opened it first. I'd forgotten how polite guys used to be back in the day. He was from the 1900s after all.

We were sitting in the car in silence when he suddenly turned the cd player on. The car was filled with the beautiful sound of Debussy's Clair de lune- one of my favourites.

"This is a beautiful song", I said.

"You know Debussy?", Edward said sounding surprised and turned to face me.

"Just the best ones. My mum used to listen to it. And keep your eyes on the road. I don't care if you have vampire reflexes or whatever. I really don't wanna end up in an accident. No matter how unlikely it might be."

He laughed but turned his eyes to the road.

"Can I say something weird?", I said when we were almost at my house.

"Go ahead", he said with an odd look on his face.

"I always wanted to meet a vampire. I knew how dangerous they were and how irrational it was, but for some reason it always fascinated me. When I saw your family, I didn't know what to do. A part of me wanted to run and hide while the other wanted to get to know you. Your kind and mine are pretty similar after all. We manipulate and mind control people, you eat 'em. But still, I never thought I would _actually_ end up enjoying the company of a vampire", I said.

When I realized how weird the last sentence must have sounded like, I continued quickly: "From what my mom told me, your kind should've been all sorts of awful and nothing else. It just makes one question how else the things I've been told might be wrong. I mean, you're not half bad", I added laughing humorlessly, trying to lighten up the mood. Oh if he only knew what an understatement 'not half bad' was.

"It seems like it doesn't even matter that you're a vampire. Being one alone doesn't necessarily make you- or anyone- a monster. Gosh, how naive I've been", I sighed and laughed genuinely this time.

"No you haven't. Your kind was right to fear vampires. We are monsters. _I_ am a monster."

I looked at him incredulously.

"No you're not. I refuse to believe that. From what I have seen, you have been nothing but good", I said, realizing just how true my words were.

"You don't know me well enough. Not my bad side, nor the things I've done."

I took a deep breath. I knew that that should've pushed me away and I should've left running scared for my life. But the fear never came. Edward stopped the car when we arrived at my house and I grabbed his hand.

"Then let me know you", I said, surprised at how bold I was acting. "I don't believe you're the monster you think yourself to be. And if you are a monster- if you refuse to think otherwise- you should know that not all monsters do monstrous things. Even if the cards you've been dealt give you every reason to be bad, it doesn't mean you are bad no matter what you do", I said quickly.

"But I am bad. There's no redemption for me, nothing that could ever change that. And that's why you and I can't be friends. That's why I shouldn't be sitting here, talking to you like we're having a great time. That's why I _should_ stay away from you."

"What if I don't want you to? What if, for once, I want to get to know someone?"

"Trust me, you don't want to get to know me. Not really. And either way, you shouldn't", he said and yanked his arm out of my hand.

I looked him in his eyes but he turned away.

"Fine. I'll see you at school then", I said quietly with a voice colder than I intended. I left the car without looking back and ran inside, escaping the rain.

Inside, I was greeted with Alice and Amanda laughing like the best friends they were probably becoming. "Hey. Oh, Alice. You're here. Great", I said, trying to force a smile at them.

Alice looked at me weirdly. "Did he.. Say something?", she asked referring to Edward.

"No. It's all good. I just.. Explained all the details for him. That's all", I sighed, shrugging it off.

"Bella, I actually wanted to talk to you about something"', Alice said. Amanda looked at her curiously. "About Edward actually."

"Sure. What is it?", I asked trying to sound like I couldn't have cared less about who she wanted to talk about.

"He can be a little...harsh. Sometimes. He means well. Trust me. He just isn't the most.. social person. He's been alone for a long time and he just blames himself for everything. He doesn't really think he deserves to be happy or truly _live_ ", Alice said sadly. She must really feel bad for him. "But I think you might do him some good. I mean you already have! He hasn't been this lively for years, decades even. You make him different. You make him feel like he might deserve happiness."

Yeah right. I guess Alice isn't as insightful as she thought. I mean, she couldn't have been more wrong if she had tried.

"I should go to bed", I said and started walking upstairs with my eyes welling up ever so slightly. I liked Alice, but I didn't feel like dealing with stuff like this right now. I was tired like crazy.

"No, please! Wait", Alice continued. I turned around to look at her.

"You might not see it yet. You might not have any idea of what I'm saying. Hell, you might even think I'm just a crazy vampire. But trust me when I tell you, you are meant for each other. One day you'll understand it. I may not see you sirens clearly but this, I saw crystal clear", she spoke.

I almost broke out laughing- hell, I probably would have, had I not been so tired. If I had trusted her psychic abilities before, that belief- that I doubt ever existed- was long gone. There was no way Edward and I could- in any way, shape or form- be _meant_ for each other. Not before pigs fly. Likely not even then. I had been foolish to think Edward and I could even be friends. But this? This was a new level of delusional. I mumbled the girls goodnight and left upstairs without another word.

That night I dreamt about Edward- Not an intimidating vampire version, just him. It was incredibly vivid: I would have thought it real if I hadn't known better. In the dream Edward was sitting by my window and his hair and eyes glistened in the dim light as he looked at me. As soon as I saw him, he was gone. After the dream, I drifted further away to sleep. I hadn't slept as good in ages.


	8. Chapter 8

**An: I'm back again with a new chapter! This one is a little shorter but I'm uploading twice this week. Also, if there is someone whose pov you want to read, give suggestions. Ethan and Alice's povs are on their way in addition to the classic Bella, Amanda and Edward's povs (maybe even in the next chapter).**

 **Side note: there are many parts that are pretty similar to Midnight sun, so credit definitely goes to Stephenie Meyer herself. (I absolutely love Midnight sun)**

 **Epov**

"Fine. I'll see you at school then", Bella said coldly and left the car with a bang of the door. I took off running as soon as she got inside. Alice would have to bring the car after me- I really needed to clear my head by running.

I should've been happy. I had reached my goal- I had managed to push her away. It was all for her own good. Yet I doubt I could've felt any worse. As I was running through the woods I felt the wind around me and _my_ thoughts faded to the background. Yet I could still feel them present in my mind no matter how hard I tried. I knew I should've been satisfied but deep inside I felt like I had made a huge mistake

When I reached the house I realized I would have to tell everyone about the whole Amanda and Bella thing. I decided to wait for Alice since I knew she would come in just a few minutes. She was way better at stuff like this anyway.

Just as I thought, a few minutes later Alice appeared out of the woods driving my Volvo. I started hearing her thoughts:

 _What are we going to do about him? He's sabotaging every chance of happiness he gets! I should talk to him. Yes, I'll definitely talk to him! Oh, there he is. Better watch my thoughts…_

And then she started counting backwards in Chinese. Great. She was hiding something from me. I had felt like she'd been keeping something from me for a few days already but now I was certain.

We got inside and I asked everyone to join Alice and I. "We should have a family talk", I said when Carlisle appeared in the hall. He nodded quickly and his thoughts were filled with worried speculation.

"The sisters, Bella and Amanda, we now know why they're so exceptional", I begun. "They're sirens", Alice squealed before I got the chance to explain. Everyone looked at us oddly.

"Yes, it seems like our kind and werewolves aren't the only creatures out there", I continued, giving Alice a look.

"Okay. Soo.. What the hell does that mean?", Ethan asked. "Basically they're pretty similar as humans", I explained. "But immortal", Alice interrupted.

"Yes. And they can mind control people, grow temporary tails on full moons and they're pretty strong", I continued. "And they don't get hurt as easily", Carlisle added.

Everyone turned to look at him and a million questions filled everyone's thoughts, including mine.

"I thought they were just a myth, something that justified the Volturi's killings", he said. "Apparently I was wrong."

"And you're saying this only now?", I asked without completely concealing the anger in my voice.

"I didn't know what they were. There's no way to tell! Well, maybe from the eyes.. but other than that there's no way to be sure", he said.

Right, the odd eyes. Bella's eyes were extremely deep and brown but what actually made them unusual were the blue tint specks- that were invisible to human eyes- in them. Amanda's eyes were similar, just not as deep.

"Carlisle, what are you saying? Have you heard of sirens before?", Alice asked.

"Yes. There were rumors of creatures called sirens going around back in the 18th century when I was with the Volturi. Even the Volturi guard was thought to have gone after them thinking they were a threat to our existence. None of it was ever confirmed though. At the time I thought they were just rumors. It also crossed my mind that the Volturi might have been killing innocents and trying to cover it up somehow. Anyway, the rumors stopped quite quickly and to be frank, I never thought more of it", Carlisle explained as we listened in utter curiosity.

"So _will_ they be a threat?", Jasper asked, his mind already thinking of Alice's protection.

"I doubt it. They seem to not be that in touch with the supernatural world. And either way, they made it clear they wanted to stay friendly", I said. That wasn't a total lie- I'm sure Bella would stay sort of friendly or tolerant at the least regarding me.

"How have we never heard of their kind?", Esme wondered. "Bella said that they are very rare. But even then it's quite odd", I answered.

The discussion was soon over and everyone expect Alice left the room. I guess this was the time for her talk.

"What did you say to her?", she confronted me.

"I told her that it would be best for her to stay away from me", I said matter-of-factly.

"Edward! Bella is a nice girl. Why are you doing this?"

"Exactly. Bella _is_ a nice girl. A very nice girl. She doesn't need someone like me screwing her life up. What good could I possibly bring to her life?"

"Plenty! Not to mention what she could bring to yours."

"That's irrelevant. My happiness is completely unmeaningful compared to what being with someone like me would mean for her. I would never push her into that."

"Edward, wake up. This isn't a movie with a moral lesson. This is real life! You don't have to do the honorable thing. You don't have to think of what's right. And to be fair, this is totally _not_ what's right. Why couldn't you just.. enjoy it, enjoy the possibility of being with her?"

"Don't you understand Alice? I can't do that. I have to stay away from her for her own good."

"Is that what you keep telling yourself?", she asked me, almost shouting. There was silence and we both took a deep breath.

"Listen. I know it won't be easy. In fact, it'll be really hard. But it'll be worth it, trust me. And not just for you, for her too. I think she likes you and you should give it a shot. It doesn't matter how it might end", she continued quietly and started thinking about something else quickly- trying to hide her thoughts maybe. I nodded. Not in agreement but to acknowledge her point.

"Won't you at least admit that you like her?", Alice asked.

"Sure. I like her, okay? I like her", I snapped at her. I noticed she was still trying to hide her thoughts."What are you hiding from me? Is it a vision?", I asked.

She started immediately thinking about Jasper, trying to distract her thoughts, but she wasn't fast enough. I had caught a glimpse of the vision and seen more than enough. I gasped slightly. No. No way. That was not possible. I would not accept it.

"No", was the only thing I said before I got on my feet and left for a run. That was the only thing that could clear my head.

In Alice's vision, she was standing between Bella and Amanda and they were all smiling. Amanda looked just like she did at the moment. She was the same from her lively eyes to her rosy cheeks. It was the sight of Bella that caught me off guard. She was pale white, as white as Alice, and all color had disappeared from her face. Her features were the same as they were now, but way harder. She looked a lot stronger and a lot less fragile even though she isn't that fragile looking even as is. Her once brown eyes were now a piercing gold that still managed to keep the endless depth her eyes had. She was a vampire. I didn't even know sirens could _become_ vampires. I mean, how could Alice see something like this? There was no way that would happen, no way Bella would be doomed into this life.

At first I didn't even realize where I was heading as I ran through the woods. Then I made a halt stop. I was nearing the Swan house. I contemplated what to do until I gave in and continued running ahead. Why do I do this to myself?

When I reached the Swan house I got a sudden desire to see Bella. I decided to climb in through the window and take a glance in Bella's bedroom. Just a quick look.

Before I opened the window I realized how horrible what I was doing really was. I was like a peeping tom. Worse, actually: I was a peeping, stalking vampire. Still, I decided to open the window. I would just take a tiny look and be gone in a second. As I was opening the creaking window I made a mental note to take some oil with me next time. Wait. Next time? No, no. There wouldn't be a 'next time'.

There she was. Sleeping with her hair tangled around her head and her face completely relaxed, her mouth slightly open. The whole room smelled of her and I had to - for the first time since I first met her- work a bit to control myself. Luckily I got used to it after a minute of sitting by the window.

As I looked at her in this vulnerable, unconscious state, I realized just how beautiful she really was. Her face was so graceful, her features so fragile when she was asleep. She wasn't perfect- definitely not- but somehow it made her even more appealing. There was something so human about her even though I knew she wasn't one -at least not completely. I knew I had to leave: this was getting more stalker-like even though I hadn't thought it possible.

Right before I jumped down the window and I glanced back at Bella, I heard her speak: "Amanda."

My eyes flew open but when I saw her eyes still closed, I realized she was still sleeping. She talks in her sleep. Now I definitely knew I should be leaving but the thought of hearing her unedited thoughts was too appealing to miss. I had to stay and listen just for a minute or two. Who would that hurt? I didn't even want to answer my own question..

"No. I don't want to", she spoke with surprising clarity.

"Well okay", she continued. I had no idea what she was dreaming about. She was silent for a minute until she started speaking again.

"Edward?" Now I froze. Was she really still sleeping? And if she was asleep- and clearly she was- why would she say my name?

"Edward", she sighed and continued with a sad voice: "Please don't leave. Just stay. Stay here with me."

She was dreaming about me. And it wasn't even a nightmare! A big wave of emotion went through me and I wasn't the same anymore. Right then and there I somehow knew I loved her. I knew I would love her till the day I die, however far that may be. I knew I couldn't ignore her completely- I wouldn't be strong enough to do that. But what would I do? I wouldn't be able to keep my distance but I couldn't let myself too close. I would have to control myself at all times and let everything be on her terms. She would stay human- well non-vampire- and alive. If she wanted friendship, that would be what she gets. If more, then.. well, let's leave that for then. Feeling determined and oddly satisfied I left her room and started running back to the house.

When I got to the house, I saw Alice waiting for me. Crap, she had probably seen everything that had just happened and, more likely than not, even more.

"Busy night?", she teased thinking about the visions she'd had about my trip to the Swan house.

"More like interesting."

She narrowed her eyes and I heard her look in my future hardly, getting only blurry results. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at me annoyedly.

"What did you do? You had better not done anything major!", she snapped.

"Nothing. I just made a decision about Bella. Sort of."

"I'm sure the visions will be all clear in just a minute", she replied smugly.

Clear? Maybe. The same as it was? No. I would change the outcome, I would change Bella's fate. For some reason I still felt like Alice might have seen more than she let in on but there was nothing I could do about it. And either way, I would make sure that the future she had seen wouldn't become reality. No matter what it would take.


	9. Chapter 9

**An: Hey guys. Hope you like this one. As always, leave comments, favourite and follow the story if you like it!**

 **Am pov**

It was Friday and French class had just ended. I started walking with Alice to the gym where we would have yet another dance practice for the prom our school was organizing in a couple weeks. I was extremely excited and I had already agreed to go shopping for our dresses with Alice and Bella after school. When we arrived in the gym I started feeling uneasy. This would be the first time I spoke to Ethan since he had found out- I was certain Alice and Edward had told them- what I was. I never felt nervous around anyone, much less guys, but for some reason this made me extremely anxious.

"Hi, there", I told him slightly awkwardly.

"Hello siren-girl", he said whispering the latter so only I- and everyone else supernatural who might be listening- could hear it.

I laughed. "Yeah, secrets out. Sorry for not telling you in person but I didn't exactly have a choice. Bella sort of surprised me with her sudden decision of telling you guys."

"Don't sweat it. It's all good. So, ready to dance your ass off?", he said and smiled widely. He had a smile that could've made anyone smile back. It was like a toddler smiling widely at you. With his almost boyish face he actually reminded me of a playful child- well that would be if he weren't so big. I mean, the guy was quite huge! His brother Emmett was of course- believe it or not- even bigger. He was on another scale entirely.

Both Ethan and Emmet are really strong- Emmet obviously more so- quite happy and playful and have the same type of hair. They are brothers after all. From what I've gathered, Ethan seems to be a little more smart and intellectual. And apparently, he has a power that his brother doesn't. I still found it hard picturing him floating things in the air.

I took his hand and was surprised, again, of how pleasant his cold skin was. I looked him deep into his, now almost black, eyes and I almost forgot to breathe- unfortunately sirens still have to do that. With that we started going through our familiar dance routine and we got through it at ease. I glanced at Bella and Edward every once in awhile. They didn't seem anywhere near as close as they had been and Bella was avoiding Edward's gaze. It seemed like Edward tried to talk to Bella about something- that I had no clue of- but Bella told him to save it for the end of the lesson. Wow. She was treating him coldly. I wonder what was going on?

I turned my attention back to Ethan and was surprised to find his face so close to mine. Caught off guard as I was, I stumbled and almost fell over. Instinctively, I grabbed his arm to stop from completely falling. Did I just trip? God, am I turning into Bella or something?

"S-sorry", I laughed. "Guess I'm getting worse or something."

He laughed at me and lifted me upright with one swift movement. I smiled at him and he smiled back. God, he was gorgeous. And yes, I know that's what you usually say of girls but in this case, it was the perfect word for the way he looked. Absolutely handsome.

I had a lot of fun dancing with Ethan and I didn't even notice the lesson go by. By the end of it, he asked me to join him during lunch and I agreed to join. I turned to look at Bella but she rolled her eyes and looked at Edward with a meaningful look. I guess she'd be occupied with Edward-business this lunchtime.

I walked next to Ethan when we joined the other Cullens. I felt like a complete intruder, completely out of place. I almost thought of making a run for it and leaving them. I couldn't help but feel like they didn't want me there. We waited in line and I bought myself a chicken sandwich, an apple and some lemonade- I was starving.

"So Amanda. You been to Highschool many times?", Ethan asked me.

"Yeah. Bella and I usually like to enroll in a high school or a college if we're planning on staying in a place for multiple years. It's easier to blend in", I shrugged.

"Same here", Ethan smiled. I smiled back. He was being really nice to me. As was Alice, Edward and Emmett- he seemed to be open to pretty much anyone. Now it was just Rosalie and Jasper who seemed guarded and reserved.

Rosalie was looking at her phone and just looking at her I knew that she was someone I did not want to mess with. She was extremely beautiful- the prettiest of all the Cullens, dare I say- but there was something cold about the way she presented herself. She seemed quite emotionless, at least for an outsider, which I considered myself to be.

Jasper on the other hand seemed to be keeping an eye on me. It was like he was waiting for me to be a threat to them. Maybe that was just the way he was- protective of his family.

All the other Cullens apart from Ethan left the table and cafeteria and I was left alone with him.

"Why did you and Bella move to Forks of all places? I mean, it isn't exactly the best town in the world!", he laughed after a while.

"Well you live here too! And besides we had our reasons.."

"We live here cause the sun hardly ever shines!", he laughed and suggested me to continue.

I gulped. I didn't like talking to people about my parents, I didn't like opening up very much.

"Bella and I.. We used to live here with our parents. Forks is sort of our home. No matter where I go it'll always have a special place in my heart", I said and looked down to my hands. I didn't want to start crying but I felt my eyes welling up.

Ethan placed his hand on top of mine. I lifted my gaze and found his eyes on mine. He offered me a small smile and his eyes were full of empathy. I smiled at him slightly- I told you, his smile was quite irresistible- and felt better. I would always be emotional when I talked about my parents but I think it's getting better. Maybe they are in a better place, wherever they are.

"That's the downside of being immortal. You have to see many loved ones go", he said quietly.

"We're lucky to have our siblings."

"That we are", he said looking at me, smiling emotionally. I was stroking his hands that we're now in mine. After a minute I realized that our lesson would soon be starting and we left the cafeteria quickly.

 **Bpov** :

The dance practice had seemed to go on forever. I hadn't stumbled quite as many times as I usually did- maybe because I wasn't distracted by a certain someone's eyes. I had spent the whole lesson looking at walls and avoiding Edward's gaze. Damn him. I can't believe I would have to actually dance with him at prom. I mean, the guy hated me! He would surely have loved to dance with anyone else.

"Bella can we talk? I really-", Edward began.

"Save it. You don't have to say anything. I get it", I said as kindly as I could with the words "We shouldn't be friends" echoing in my mind.

"No but-", he tried to continue but stopped when I looked at him annoyedly.

When the lesson was over I left the room quickly not waiting for him to follow me. He caught up to me without even trying tho- being a vampire and all.

"What?", I snapped.

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I may have come across a little.. rude the last time we spoke but believe me, that was not my.. intention", he said.

"Oh I think I heard your intention pretty damn clear."

"I just meant that it would be better for you to stay away from me."

"What does that even mean?", I laughed.

"It means that.. Even though I would like to be friends, you shouldn't want to. Vampires are dangerous and malicious. You shouldn't want to have anything to do with our kind."

"Well that's for me to decide, isn't it? And besides, I think we're past that point already. Alice and Amanda are pretty much on their way to being BFF:s so I'll be in touch with you guys no matter what", I laughed.

He was quiet. "Okay. Maybe it is. Maybe it is up to you."

"Okay", I said and started walking away soon after.

"Bella?", he asked after me. I turned around and looked at him curiously.

"Would you like to maybe come by our house later? Carlisle would really like to ask some questions about your kind. And besides, it might be fun", he said.

Wait a minute. Was he.. Asking me to hang out? Using Carlisle as an excuse, maybe, but still.

"Yea, sure. I'd like to. After I've finished shopping with Alice and Amanda. ", I said, smiled slightly and left.

"Does this one make me look fat?", Amanda asked wearing a pink maxi dress that fit her to perfection. We were at the mall, shopping for our prom dresses. I laughed. "No, it doesn't. You look great. Just like in all the fifteen dresses before that one", I said.

Alice had chosen to buy a dark blue dress with small, diamond details and now she was going through the shoe section.

"Come on, Bella. Try on some dresses!", Alice said with an excited voice.

I took a deep breath. I had already tried on a few dresses but I hadn't liked anything yet.

"What about this one? I think you would really like it", Alice said, holding up a long, simple lilac dress. It had a sweetheart neckline that didn't run too low and it was made out of chiffon-like material. Wow. That was a pretty dress.

I nodded and grabbed the dress.

I put it on in the changing room and instantly fell in love. It was perfect. Just simple enough without being boring. Not too fancy or too casual. Not too revealing or too covering. It was just perfect. I walked out to show the girls the dress.

"I think I might take this one", I said.

"Definitely! It is absolutely gorgeous. Fits you perfectly", Amanda said excitedly.

I ended up buying the dress and Amanda ended up buying a peach-colored one and some strappy, rosegold heels. Alice paired her dress with silver pumps. As for me? My black ballerinas would have to suffice- I would not be going through the torture that is high heels.

We left the store as soon as we had found what we needed- after two long hours of shopping- and we started driving to the Cullens in Alice's car. She, too, drove crazy fast but I didn't comment on it. Guess I was getting used to it.

"Hey everyone", Amanda and I greeted the Cullens when we arrived.

"Well hello, girls! It is truly wonderful to meet the two of you", a woman with the kindest face said. Esme, I assumed- no one else could have been so mother-like.

"Hello", Carlisle greeted us politely.

"I'm sure this is a weird situation for all of you. I hope Edward already told you that we truly mean no harm. Your secret's safe with us", I spoke earnestly.

"Yes he did. But I still have a few questions of my own. May I?", Carlisle asked.

I nodded and smiled.

"Do you know what the Volturi are? And if you do, are they aware of your kind?", he asked.

"Yes we are familiar with the Volturi", I said and shuddered.

"Our mother told us about them. She said they were the main reason our kind is so rare. Supposedly, they hunted most of our kind down till we were practically extinct", Amanda continued with a sad tone in her voice.

Carlisle nodded with a look of realization and understanding on his face.

"I believe if they knew about our existence, they would kill us too", I said.

"As much as I would like to disagree, I'm afraid I can't", Carlisle said.

"So did you inherit your Siren properties from your mother?", he asked, switching the topic.

"Yes. That's the only way. The gene passes over to the next generation through the mother, who becomes human during the pregnancy", I answered.

All of the Cullens' eyes widened slightly. From the corner of my eye I could see Rosalie leaving the room looking.. Angry? I wonder what that was for. Why would she be mad at the fact that my mother turned human when she had children?

Amanda and I told the Cullens everything we knew- which wasn't an awful lot- about our kind and soon everyone started to spread out around the house- it was getting late. Soon it was just Edward and I left in the livingroom.

"Shall we go upstairs?", Edward asked me. I nodded.

The Cullen house was absolutely gorgeous. It was so open and so white. Everything looked clean and pure- nothing like what I expected a home of so many vampires to be like. When we arrived upstairs I stopped in front of an interesting-looking room and I went in.

"Wow, you guys have a lot of music", I said, stunned by the entire wall covered with cd:s.

"Yeah, It's kind of my thing", Edward said.

Wow, so it was all his. This must be his room then.

"No bed?"

He laughed. "Don't you know? We don't sleep."

Right. That had been a question I hadn't thought to ask during our game of twenty questions regarding the qualities of sirens and vampires.

I turned the cd-player on and the room was filled with classical music.

"You know. I'm not the biggest fan of classical music but this is pretty good. I think I'm growing fonder of it", I said as I sat down on the couch. I patted the seat next to me, signaling Edward to sit. And he did- surprisingly close I might add.

"Can I ask you something?", I asked.

"Do you always ask that before actually asking?"

"Only when it's more personal", I said seriously. He nodded with a more serious look.

"How did you become a vampire?", I asked.

There was a small pause before he answered.

"It was 1918. I was dying of the Spanish flu and Carlisle had been looking for a companion for many years. He couldn't bare letting me die, with as young as I was. Not when my mother had begged him to do everything in his power to save me. And so he changed me."

"Did it hurt?"

"Honestly? Like hell. Nothing has hurt as much ever since."

I shuddered.

"Do you remember much? About your human life."

"I remember some things here and there but it's all a bit blurry. Human memories fade over time." There was a small silence.

"Well, since you've been asking me questions, can I asked you some in return?", Edward said after a while with a slightly crooked smile.

"Go ahead", I said slightly skeptically.

"Do you have any dreams? I mean, what do you want in life?"

My eyes widened slightly. That was.. straightforward. If it was anyone else asking I might have not even answered.

"I want to.. be happy and make others happy. I guess I've always dreamt of making a difference or helping people but I doubt that'll happen to me. I'm not the memorable, change-the-world type. And I don't know if that's a bad thing. In the end, I just hope I can influence the people close to me positively and make them just that tiny bit happier. I don't know if anything other than that even matters that much", I spoke quickly and shrugged. Wow, I couldn't believe I actually said that. He seemed to get an answer out of me even if I didn't know it myself.

"I hope you get that. You deserve to have everything you want to achieve. And if you ask me, I believe you are capable of anything you put your mind to", he answered his eyes full of emotion.

I didn't even know what to say to that. I just gave him a small smile instead and enjoyed the quietness. It wasn't the awkward kind of silence, the kind you want to fill with unimportant smalltalk about the weather or something. It was a calm and comfortable silence, there was something safe and familiar about it.

And so we spent the rest of the evening, well into the night: Listening to music, answering each other's questions and enjoying the quiet- moving closer to each other inch by inch as the night went on. By the time Amanda asked me to leave home with her, I knew all sorts of facts about Edward from his shoe size to his favourite colour.

"You ready to leave?", she asked at the door.

Edward and I both moved back slightly at the her sudden arrival as we realized how close we were to each other.

"Yea sure. Let's go. Goodbye, Edward", I said and smiled at him. I laid my hand on his before I left and looked him deep into his eyes one last time.

With a quick goodbye to the rest of the Cullens- except Rosalie who was nowhere to be seen- Amanda and I left home. Well to be exact Alice drove us home because our car was back at our house. I was so glad I wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow- I loved Saturdays.


	10. Chapter 10

**An: I'm back again with a new chapter! I'm also thinking about bringing the Volturi to the story. What do you guys think? Please leave comments and reviews if you like it (or if you have suggestions on making the story better). See you again later!**

"Wow. That was _so_ good! I think that just became my favourite movie", I said when we walked out of the movie theater. Amanda, Alice, Edward, Ethan and I had just finished watching _La la land._

"Absolutely. I'm so glad we came!", Amanda laughed.

Edward and Ethan looked at each other with amused looks. Ethan had probably made a comment- well, _thought_ a comment- about us girls liking the movie. I couldn't blame him- it was a romance movie after all.

As we were walking to the car my stomach suddenly rumbled. Great, I hadn't noticed just how hungry I was. Every vampire turned to look at me- including Edward who was standing by my side- and laughed.

"Seems like _somebody_ needs something to eat", Alice laughed out loud.

I smiled guiltily. "I'm afraid so. Would it be too big of a problem to stop at Mcdonald's or something? I really don't need anything fancy, a quick bite will be just great", I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh don't be silly. I'll join you for a proper dinner. Alice and Ethan, you take my car. I'll run home from Bella's once we're done", Edward spoke. "That is… If you'd like to?", he added immediately and looked at me.

"Sure. That'd be great. If it really isn't a problem", I answered and smiled.

With that Edward and I walked to his car and proceeded to the town center. There was a nice Italian restaurant that I had been to before in town. I think it's called _Bella Italia_ or something.

 **Epov**

"You cold?", I asked Bella, who seemed to be freezing because of the chilly weather that had cooled the car.

"Yes, a little actually", she said and proceeded to turn the heater on. I was faster than she though and our hands touched as we both tried to push the button. She took a small, sharp breath in, looked at me and pulled her hand away. Our eyes stayed glued to each other for a minute until she turned away.

"So, did you like the movie?", she asked me perhaps to fill the silence. I laughed slightly to myself. "Yes, it was a very nice movie. It had a nostalgic feeling to it", I said. That wasn't a lie. I _had_ liked the movie. I had just.. _preferred_ looking at Bella and her reactions _to_ the movie. No movie could hold my interest better than Bella, especially an _excited_ Bella. When she was excited, her eyes light up, her heart beat faster and her whole existence seemed to become more lively. I just really loved seeing her happy.

We pulled up at the Italian restaurant and walked in. As we sat down at our table I started hearing the waitress's, let's just say, _loud_ thoughts. I tuned her out by focusing on Bella's mind- or rather lack thereof- and enjoyed the silence. Being with Bella seemed to help me tune other people's thoughts out better. I could still hear them but they weren't as prominent.

"Hello. May I get you some drinks or do you still need more time?", I heard the waitress I saw from the corner of my eye say. I turned to Bella and found her looking- well, almost _glaring-_ at the waitress.

"What would you like to have?", I asked her. She quickly turned her head to me and spoke:"I'll have a coke. With ice. Thanks."

"Two cokes", I told the waitress.

"Okay. And for your main courses?", the waitress asked.

"Umm.. I'll have the mushroom ravioli", Bella added, having barely even looked at the menu.

"And what can I do for you?", the waitress asked, almost flirtatiously.

"That'll be fine, thank you", I said.

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything", the waitress said and continued to look at me intensly. It was making me uncomfortable.

"Let me know if you need _anything_ ", Bella said mockingly with an obnoxious tone in her voice when the waitress was gone. I snorted. "I mean, I don't blame her. But, _really?_ ", she continued and shook her head. I laughed again.

"So, I was thinking. Maybe we could hang out next friday?", I continued.

She smiled. " _Really?_ Do you know what day it is on friday?", she asked me with a suggestive look. I shook my head. "It's a full moon", Bella said excitedly.

It took me awhile to get what she was saying.

"Oh! Right. So, no then?"

"No! We can totally hang out but it'll have to be in water. I don't want to miss a single full moon. And you know, I do swim pretty fast..", she teased with a smile on her face. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh, I'll be fine. We'll see _who's_ gonna be laughing when I swim past you."

"Oh, really? It's a race then. And trust me, I won't lose to a _vampire_. Not in water", she laughed but there was determination behind her eyes. I laughed. That was when Bella's food came. Ugh, how repulsive it looks. Mushrooms look even more disgusting than most other human foods.

She took a taste of her steaming hot meal that would once have seemed mouthwatering to me and made a satisfied sound. I was happy to see her getting the nutrition she needed, even if the food looked disgusting to me. She ate in silence, only speaking every now and then and we were soon ready to leave the restaurant. As the waitress was handing me the bill, I noticed a note with her number on it on the backside of it. I handed her fifty dollars without taking the bill- I wouldn't want her waiting for a call that would never happen.

"That's fine. Keep the change", I said.

She smiled without true happiness and turned away.

It had become dark outside and the stars were visible in the unusually clear night sky.

"Wow", Bella sighed and sat down on the grass next to the sidewalk.

I took a seat next to her and joined her star-gazing.

We kept looking at the stars for what must have been a half an hour just pointing out different shapes they formed and chatting about this and that. That was when she turned to look at me and spoke more seriously: "Can I tell you something?"

I looked at her meaningfully. She knew she didn't need to ask. "Anything you want"

"I.. like you Edward. You're a nice guy and I enjoy spending time with you", she said and looked down to her hands.

I was speechless. I knew _I_ liked her. But I hadn't been sure of her stand on the matter. And here she was, telling me she did like me. What had I done to deserve her? Or better yet, _did_ I deserve her?

"I like you too Bella", I said as I lifted her face up by tilting her head gently from her jaw. "I really do. I just don't know if that's what's.. best for _you",_ I continued _._

"I do _. You_ are what's best for me. _Being_ with you is."

I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. Why was this so hard?

"I have to tell you something", I said.

"All ears", she laughed nervously.

"Alice had a vision about you. She saw you.. as a vampire. I don't know what could ever lead to that- trust me I won't _let_ it get to that- but still, that's what she saw. And.. I don't want that for you. You don't deserve that."

Her eyes widened.

"It all makes sense now. Why you've acted like you did. Why you've kept your distance. You think you're protecting me", she laughed quietly. "But you don't need to. I can protect myself, Edward. Ï can stand up for _myself_. It isn't something you need to worry about."

"Maybe you're right. And even if you're not.. I don't know if I can keep going on like this anymore. It isn't working."

"Clearly", she laughed and took my hand and squeezed it.

It was quiet for awhile. As the quietness lingered, the electricity in the air felt more and more piercing. I had never been as aware of her and her body heat as I was now with her sitting just inches away from me. I had felt an urge like this before- when we had been dancing- but it had never been as strong. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to touch her so bad and hold her in my arms. I wanted to feel her heartbeat against my forever-frozen chest. I wanted to feel her warm, soft lips against mine. She bit her lip and I had a feeling she felt it too. The feeling was too strong to be one-sided. And so I touched her face: carefully, like touching a fragile flower- that was almost what she was compared to me.

"I'm gonna try something. Stay still", I said. I started leaning in towards her and she kept her eyes intently on mine until she closed them. And that was when our lips met.

 **Bpov**

It was like the world started spinning around me. I didn't know where I was or when I was. The only thing that _mattered_ at that moment was him. Almost as soon as our lips touched I forgot all about 'stay still'. I forgot all about 'taking it slow'. I pushed myself against him with more force than I had intended to- good thing he isn't human- and ran my fingers through his hair. It was like I couldn't _physically_ be close enough to him. I found myself wanting more with every second going by. Suddenly Edward pulled away. He was breathing heavily- Well, for a vampire. I was breathing way heavier than him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't keep still", I said quietly out of breath.

"No you didn't. But it was surprisingly not bad at all. I think I'm getting used to your smell. I thought controlling my thirst would have been a lot worse", he said. We both smiled at each other and there we're no words needed. We both knew what the other was thinking. He offered me his hand and I took it happily as we left for my car.

"What happened?", Amanda demanded as soon as she thought Edward must have been out of hearing sight- both physical and mental hearing that is.

"What do you mean? I have no idea what you might _possibly_ be referring to", I teased her.

"Bella. Spill it!"

"Okay", I laughed. "We had a wonderful dinner at the _Bella Italia_. I had mushroom ravioli, mum's favourite."

"Aand?", she laughed.

"And we.. may or may not have kissed under the stars. A little", I said and blushed.

"Really? That is so great, Bella! I thought this day would never come. How was it? Were his lips cold? Was he a good kisser?Did he use tongue? Wait no, did _you_ use tongue?", she asked me without allowing me to answer.

"Slow down, sis. All you need to know is that it was.. quite _magical_ ", I laughed and sighed.

"Magical? That's all I'm getting? Magical. That's like two steps away from saying that it was _good-_ you're sister deserves more details than that!"

"Well that's all you're getting! Sorry, not sorry", I laughed.

"Well in that case..I'm sure Alice will be _more_ than happy to tell me just how it went down."

"There really wasn't anything _that_ special about it. Not to an outsider like Alice at least."

Amanda narrowed her eyes in suspicion but dropped the thing at that- she knew she wouldn't get anything out of me, at least not right this second.

"I can't believe _you_ are the first one of us with a boyfriend here in Forks. I suppose there's a first for everything", Amanda teased.

"I suppose there is", I said quietly as I thought about the day - and a certain vampire- once more. Wow.

Just. Plain. _Wow._ Friday couldn't come soon enough.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bpov**

It had been three weeks since Edward and I had first kissed. Since then, we had only grown closer to each other and now we were spending pretty much all of our spare time together. I was starting to realize just how much I cared for him. It was like half the time I was alone I thought of him and could only truly relax when he was around. Pathetic? Maybe, but I knew this was just the honeymoon-phase of our relationship- I would enjoy it while it lasted. The prom would be tomorrow and I was already quite excited for it. It didn't matter that I would have to dance, I was sure I'd figure it out somehow.

When Amanda and I weren't hanging out with Alice, Amanda was also spending a lot of time with a certain other Cullen- Ethan. As far as I knew, they had a lot of fun together and I could've sworn Amanda had a crush on him. Maybe she was taking it slow or I just read the whole thing wrong. Either way, they spent a lot of time together.

"Heyy!", I heard Alice's excited squeal. She came over to spend the night and was going to prepare for the prom with us tomorrow. Great. I would be Alice and Amanda's own, personal Barbie-doll. I'd let them have their fun.

"Hello, Alice", I laughed at her as she ran to give me a hug. I embraced the cold, hard vampire I had learned to care about for a minute until I heard Amanda come down.

"Alice, you're here! This is gonna be the best sleepover ever", she squealed.

I had to laugh at the two of them. They were both _way_ past their fifties and they still managed to act like twelve-year-old little girls. Fine by me- I was too happy to be bothered.

We spent the evening watching a movie- none other than the Notebook- and I was, unsurprisingly, crying by the end of it.

"That is one hell of a movie", I said quietly and sighed.

"Sure is", Alice and Amanda both said with an equal amount of tears in their eyes.

"I'm tired, maybe we should go to sleep", Amanda suggested.

"You two go ahead. I'll just read or go for a run or something", Alice trailed off. I had a feeling she would _totally_ be paying Jasper a visit. And why wouldn't she?

I fell asleep feeling as happy as one could be and waited for the next day impatiently. I should have known right then and there that a happiness like that could only last for so long.

 **Ampov**

I was so excited for the coming day. It was Saturday and it would be time for the school prom tonight. It was going to be a little different from other proms since we we're _actually_ going to be dancing- waltz and other classic couple's dances, not just leaning to each other and swinging from side to side with the music. Afterwards we'd get to have the traditional alcohol in the punch, people making out in the corner of the room type of prom. Bella, Alice and I had spent the morning talking and laughing but now, it was time to start getting ready. _This_ , would be fun.

I love makeup, fashion and styling your hair just as much as Alice does- we we're both quite enthusiastic about it. Alice and I we're taking out all sorts of curling irons, hair brushes, makeup palettes and beauty blenders so we'd be all set up for the task before us. The room looked like a full on beauty salon with the big mirrors in front of us and all the equipment on the tables. Alice and I did each other's makeup while Bella sat in the room, at times reading and at times laughing at our enthusiasm. I straightened Alice's black, pixie-cut hair and gave her a semi-natural purple-toned eye look with a browny-nude liquid lip. She didn't need much makeup with her stunning vampire features, but a little pop of colour wouldn't hurt anybody. Alice on her part put my dark hair on a relaxed braided bun and gave me a pretty cat-eye paired with a bold, red lipstick. It would go perfectly with my outfit.

When Alice and I looked at each other with approving looks it was time for Bella. We both turned to look at her with grins on our faces. She sighed in defeat.

"Get to it you two before I change my mind", she laughed.

"Ow, Amanda! Watch it with that thing, you're gonna poke me in the eye!", she said suddenly when the eyepencil went a little too close to her eye. Oops. We we're almost ready and I gotta say, we had done a really good job. Bella looked absolutely stunning. Her look was quite natural -just like she liked it- but it also pushed her out of her comfort zone ever so slightly. We had curled her hair and put it up partly on a half updo and given her a brown-toned eyeshadow look with a small winged eyeliner. Her lips had a beautiful pinky nude colour and the whole look flattered her brown eyes and beautiful skin.

"You look pretty sis. If I dare say so myself", I said.

She took a look in the mirror for the first time and I could see her eyes go wide for a hot minute.

"Wow. You guys really did wonders, thanks", she said as she kept studying her face.

"We still have thirty minutes till we have to leave", Alice said looking at the clock.

"We were quite fast, weren't we?", I said.

"Fast? Two and a half hours is _not_ fast. A little above average at best", Bella laughed and so did Alice and I. I guess she had a point.

The Cullens picked us up in two cars- Edward, Rosalie, Bella and Emmet riding in the other and Ethan, Alice, Jasper and I riding in the other. Once we got to the school, it was already quite crowded. We took our cheesy prom pictures and said hi to our classmates until it was time for the inevitable dancing to start. Everyone got divided into the pairs we had been assigned- Bella with Edward and I with Ethan- and got prepared for the first choreography. We'd start with as classic as it gets- waltzing.

"You look beautiful", Ethan told me as I took his hand and placed mine on his shoulder. I smiled and looked away and waited for the music to start. And then we danced. There really wasn't anything that special about it. We danced to three songs, going through the moves at ease, and then it was over. Everyone split up and got back to the groups in which they had previously been talking in.

"Want punch?", I heard Ethan ask me. I nodded him.

"You like this sort of thing?", he asked me when he had handed me the sweet, fruity liquid.

"Well, it's alright. I usually go to proms, even if Bella skips them. I like the music and the dancing. And I'll never skip a chance to wear a fancy dress", I said looking at the people dancing. For some reason I didn't feel like joining in their "dancing", which was more like rubbing themselves against each other with the beat.

"You wanna go outside?", I asked Ethan.

"Sure", he said.

We went outside and sat on a bench. "You know, you've never told me. How did you become a vampire?", I asked after awhile.

There was a pause. "Yeah, well it's kind of a tragic story. Emmet became a vampire first. He was mauled by a bear and Rosalie found him. She brought him to Carlisle and begged him to change him", he said with a blank look on his face. Then he seemed to return to reality and looked me in the eyes.

"What Rosalie didn't realize, was that I was there too, hiding in the woods. She didn't smell me over Emmett's blood. I saw her carrying him away like he weighed nothing and run away quicker than the eye could see. I didn't believe my eyes at first. I recognized Rosalie cause I had seen her before. So I showed up at the Cullen's doorstep, give or take, four days after- I had to find out where they lived first. And then, _Emmett_ opened the door. One-day-old, newborn Emmett. He attacked me in a blink of an eye but Edward, Carlisle and Rosalie- yea, it took all three of them- got him off me before it was too late. The next three days were kind of a blur as you would expect, but I remember Emmett feeling so bad about what had happened. It was torture- I thought the burning would never stop. But it did. And honestly, after the initial shock, I haven't looked back. I actually _like_ being a vampire, in a way. And I don't resent Emmet for it, not for a second. Although I still feel like he hasn't entirely forgiven himself, like he might never completely let go of it", he said, finishing with a sad look in his eyes.

"Wow. I had no idea. I'm glad you guys worked it out. Not everyone could've done that"

We sat there for what felt like hours but at the same time minutes. I made a realization that night. Ethan was a great guy. And I hadn't known a single guy like him. Not a single one as kind, caring and just plain _nice_.

 **Bpov**

These were the kinds of situations I didn't really enjoy as much as I would hope. While everyone else seemed to be having the time of their lives dancing at their high school prom, I felt totally awkward and out-of-place. I forced a smile and tried to seem like I had fun but I don't think it made much of a difference. All the people I talked to could probably tell prom wasn't my favourite place in the world. That was why I hadn't been to prom more than two or three times- which was a very small amount considering the amount of high schools I'd been to. Partying and dancing and socializing over the loud music had just never been my thing.

"You want to go outside?", Edward asked me.

"Yeah, that'd be great", I said and nodded him to follow me. I knew Amanda and Ethan had already left outside and I didn't want to interrupt them. Whatever they then may be doing..

We went outside to the school yard and there was a beautiful light-decorated canopy on the right side of the yard. We walked around under the beautiful lights until Edward stopped and grabbed my waist.

"Wanna dance?", he said.

"I have a choice?", I laughed. "Sure, I'll try not to step on you"

"I don't think that's gonna happen. But I don't mind", he laughed.

There we danced for a few minutes, in the rhythm of the music that we could still hear from inside. By the end of the third song I was leaning to his chest with my head touching the spot where his heart would have beaten if it weren't frozen still. At that moment I was completely at peace.

I lifted my head and saw a man over Edward's shoulder. Quickly I tried getting a better look, but he was gone before I even blinked again.

"What's wrong?", Edward asked me.

I shook my head slightly in disbelief and smiled at him. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's all perfect." The man I thought I had seen must have been just a hallucination or something.

We kept looking into each other's eyes for the thousandth time this evening.

"I love you Edward. I love you now and I'll love you always", I said and new my words to be true.

"You are my life now, Bella Swan. And I love you too. More than you'll ever know", he said with a sincere voice. And then we kissed. Longer than we usually did and more passionately.

"Should we leave?", I asked him after a few more dances and kisses because it was getting late. He nodded and we left the school in his car. The others would have to run. I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

When we arrived at my house I asked him to come inside- I didn't feel like saying goodbye to him just yet- even if we'd be seeing each other on Monday. We went up to my room and laid next to one another on my bed. We laid there in each others arms kissing every now and then.

Slowly, our kisses got more intense and my heart beat faster and faster as I had to gasp for air in between our passionate kisses. He kissed my neck and the intense emotions pushing through my entire body left me wanting more with every touch. I had been thinking about this for a while already and in the moment it felt like the most right thing we could've possibly done. I took my shirt off slowly and shifted my weight so I was on top of him so I could be in more control.

Let's just say we did more than just kiss that night. A _lot_ more. And yes, it was completely and entirely the best, most amazing night of my life.

When I woke up in the morning with a smile on my face, Edward was nowhere to be found. I went looking for him around the house but since he wasn't there I proceeded to go outside. The road was completely empty and silent and I realized it was hardly five in the morning. I was about to leave back to sleep when I heard a man speak behind me.

"Isabella. Oh, have I been looking for you. You are a tough siren to find, aren't you?", he spoke with an eerie, peaceful voice that sent shivers down my spine. I froze. The voice made every bone in my body scream to make a run for it with it's peaceful yet threatening sound. I swallowed and turned around.

"Ah, hello child. Why don't we take a walk", he said and looked me straight in my eyes. The man had long black hair and pale white, almost translucent-looking skin- more so than any vampire's I had seen. He was wearing a black robe and the contrast of it and his grey toned skin was heavy. Still, his eyes we're the thing that made me the most frightened. They were red, a very dark, burgundy red, that seemed to be covered by a small grey film. He was a vampire, that was obvious, but he wasn't a normal one. For some reason he looked like his fragile skin might crack and he looked very old even for a vampire. I searched my mind for an explanation but came up empty.

"Who are you?", I said.

"I am Aro. But who I am doesn't make a difference for your fate. It is already sealed", he said.

Aro. How did I know that name again? I went back and forth through conversations Edward and I had had but didn't remember a single Aro. That was until I remembered mom. _She_ had told me about him. She had told me about _them._ He was one of the Volturi.

I couldn't breathe and I couldn't move. I could just stand there and wait for him to continue, as I realized I had no way to escape. I wouldn't be fast enough. I could just pray Alice would have a vision or Edward would come back in time. Otherwise I might be dead in a matter of minutes.

 **An: Yeah kind of a cliffie, I know. But I just couldn't resist it. And for all those who might not realize, this is a pretty big turn as far as the story goes. I've decided to sort of divide this story to a couple parts and next chapter will sort of wrap up the first and start the second 's also gonna be a small time jump that will make sense once we get there. But yeah, I'm really excited for what's to come and I hope your still hanging with me and reading the story. I know it took a while to get here but I think this is where the plot takes it's big turn and starts unravelling.**

 ** **And just a quick question I hope you answer: Do you like having many different povs in a chapter or sticking to just one?****

 ** **Thanks for everything and I'll see you soon! (less than a week I'm sure)****

 ** **Love, Clarizza****


	12. Chapter 12

_Previously:_

 _I couldn't breathe and I couldn't move. I could just stand there and wait for him to continue, as I realized I had no way to escape. I wouldn't be fast enough. I could just pray Alice would have a vision or Edward would come back in time. Otherwise I might be dead in a matter of minutes._

 **Bpov**

"I don't know what you mean or who you are for that matter. And why are your eyes red?", I asked playing dumb. It was the only chance I had left.

"Oh, Isabella. You can't play dumb with me. I have been looking for you ever since you were born. Your mother hid you well. But not well enough", Aro said.

"What do you want from me?"

"You see, you are the last siren on earth. We hunted down every other one. But your mother, she got pregnant before we had the chance to kill her and it gave me an idea. Why not let this one _little_ siren child be born and raise her among the Volturi? Raise her to become one of us."

"What would the Volturi do with a siren? You're vampires. We don't stand a chance against your kind", I said as I realized what Aro had just said. She didn't know mom had twins. That meant that I could still save Amanda from being killed.

"You are right miss Swan. A siren is of no use to us _unless_ she is turned. You see, when a siren turns into a vampire, they get a lot stronger than us. They get powers vampires could only dream of! And we couldn't take that chance. We couldn't risk your kind turning against ours. But a single vampire-siren hybrid working for the Volturi? We would be unstoppable. But there was a teenie tiny bump on the road. Your mother. She managed to run away before even giving birth and we couldn't find you anywhere! Until now, of course. And now, you shall join us. You shall become one of the most powerful beings on earth and work for our benefit."

I laughed humorlessly. "What? Why would I ever join the Volturi?"

"You don't have a choice, my love. Well you do, but I know what you'll choose. You can either come with me or stay and watch us kill everyone and everything you love. Edward, Alice, each of your human friends, all the other Cullens and basically everyone you've ever cared about: gone and dead. Now, you don't want that, do you? I know _I_ don't. It would be so much easier if you just joined me and left civilly."

My mind went blank. I knew I couldn't do that. Either option. Going with him would mean becoming a vampire and working for _them-_ the vampires that had apparently killed each and everyone like me except for my sister. Staying on the other hand, would mean for everyone to die. That couldn't happen. I couldn't let that happen. I thought my options through but in a way, the decision had been made the second there was a threat on the lives of my loved ones. I couldn't risk them, not now not ever.

"Let's just say, hypothetically, that I would come with you. What are the terms?", I asked with tears in my eyes.

"We can discuss the details home in Volterra. But basically it's quite simple. You come with me and allow yourself to be turned, we let your precious Cullens be."

"And when do I get to return and live on my own?"

"Well, never. That's just how it's gonna have to be, darling", he said with an almost pitying voice.

My mind went through all the possibilities I had but each of them left me lost in this impossible situation. I couldn't feel anything and my mind was blank- I was waiting for the whole thing to sink in. And that was why I didn't want to agree to anything yet, I wanted to buy myself time. Time to figure out if I could save myself from the situation or at least save the Cullens and Amanda.

"Okay, I'll come to Volterra. But on one condition: we'll discuss the details once I'm settled in. And I won't be turned before that. So just so you know, I haven't agreed to anything yet. I'll co-operate if and only if we discuss the terms of this.. agreement on my terms", I said with a shaking voice full of fear for both myself and the people I would leave behind. People who might never see me again or know what happened to me. With my body in shock, I sat in a black car with a human driver- The Volturi's future dinner I assumed- and so I left. I had no idea what the future would hold, but trust me, nothing could have prepared me for happened next.

 **PART 2**

 **30 years later**

 **Bpov**

"Moom, can you make me some pancakes?", I heard a high-pitched voice ask. It belonged to my part siren, part vampire daughter Renesmee. Ever since I left Forks, she had become the single most important thing in my life. Every day of my life revolved around her and I loved her more than I ever could have imagined. 30 years ago I would have never thought I'd be here, living in Volterra with my daughter who'd be turning thirty today even though she looks not a day older than seventeen. I hadn't known that I had gotten pregnant- I hadn't even known he _could_ get me pregnant. I winced slightly at the thought of.. Edward. I still struggled to think about him or say his name- it hurt too much.

"Sure honey. You want them with nutella or syrup?", I answered her with a smile on my face. I was so lucky to have her with me- I don't know what I would have done had I been all alone.

And it wasn't like her being here was a no-brainer. If I hadn't waited as long as I did to discuss the terms of my staying with the Volturi, they probably would have killed Renesmee as soon as she was born- and I would have died in the process. I had managed to make a deal with Aro as soon as I had realized I was pregnant: Renesmee wouldn't be obligated to stay in Volterra all her life as long as I didn't tell her about the Cullens or details of my life prior to coming here. In return I would be turned as soon as I gave birth, and I would be obligated to help the Volturi with their missions every now and then. Aro had maybe exaggerated the powers of a siren-vampire _just_ a little. The truth was I was pretty much a normal vampire. I had one extra ability apart from still being able to mind control people and grow a tail on full moons- I could manipulate water. I could freeze it and shape it however I wanted, which to be honest was quite a useless ability, not that I mined. I wanted to have little- if not nothing- to do with the Volturi. That was of course not always possible, but mostly my job among the volturi was wiping people's memories, which I did gladly because then they wouldn't be killed for knowing the Volturi's secrets.

Renesmee and I lived in our own part of the Volterra castle, quite secluded from everybody else. We were "vegetarian" vampires and Renesmee ate human food whenever possible. We spent our days wandering around town, me homeschooling her and just doing all sorts of normal things around the house. I wanted to let Renesmee experience as much as she could, so we even travelled around in Europe every now and then, but we were always accompanied by one of the Volturi's many vampires- they wanted to make sure we didn't plan to escape.

Due to Aro's specific orders of me not being allowed to mention the Cullens even once and me not _wanting_ to mention Amanda since I didn't want to risk the Volturi finding out about her, Renesmee knew nothing of her family. That didn't mean she didn't ask though- trust me she _did._ Practically every day. And I always gave her the same answer, no matter how much I hated that I had to do so. "I'm sorry honey but I can't tell you. Maybe one day I'll be able to tell you or you'll meet one of them", I always said. And she always got this heartbreaking look of sadness in her eyes, no matter how many times I had told her the same thing.

"Happy birthday honey", I said and hugged her before she sat down and started eating nutella straight out of the jar.

"Thanks, mom. Love you"

"'I actually wanted to talk about something. Soo..It's my thirtieth birthday today. And..I think I'm old enough to know something about where I come from", she said seriously. "I mean that would only be fair! So first of all, why do we live in Volterra?", she asked.

"Because of my job", I answered while turning away from her, using washing dishes as an excuse. I couldn't tell her even though every bone in my body wanted to share all the stories of my life before that fateful day- all the highschools we had gone to with Amanda, all the trips we'd taken as a family with my parents and of course, all the nights I'd spent with Edward. But I couldn't.

"Mom! You don't even care that much abou your job. Please tell me! Why are we _really_ here? And.. what happened to my dad? Why isn't he here?"

I sighed. How could I tell her this without revealing anything. The fact that I _wanted_ her to know all of it didn't make this any easier.

"Okay. I'll try to tell you everything I _can_ tell you. But I can't do more and for that, I will be sorry forever", I said and paused.

"Like I told you before, your father and I cared for each other very much. We met in a highschool and fell in love. But.. things don't always go as you plan and.. we had to go our separate ways. In order for the both of us to be safe."

"Mom, please tell me more. Who was he? There's a big part of me missing, this whole entire half that I know nothing about!"

"You just have to trust me on this one: if I could tell you, I would."

"Where did you meet?"

Well, techincally Aro hadn't forbidden me of telling her _that._

"A small, rainy town in northern USA."

"Why don't we ever visit him then?"

"I don't think he lives there anymore and either way, we can't do that. "

"Why? Why not? You don't even _try_ to see him?"

To her it must have seemed that way. In fact, I hadn't actually tried escaping Volterra- the stakes were to high. And even if I did escape, what then? I and everyone around me would be hunted for the rest of our lives. I couldn't do that just to take away my ache for being with Edward.

"If it.. were possible, I would have done that. But it is not."

She was quiet then and left the room, stomping her feet. She could stomp all she wanted, it wouldn't change a thing. I could never tell her who his father was not to mention who her entire family of vampires and sirens were. I could only wish for her to find them herself that one day when she would leave Volterra and never return.


	13. Chapter 13

**An: Hey everyone! It's good to be back again and I hope you like this chapter. See you again soon!**

 **-Clarizza (side note: I'm sorry I haven't responded to any of your reviews but I just now found out how to do it! Anyway, thank you all for reading.)**

 **Renesmee's pov**

That day I had woken up with a plan. It was my thirtieth birthday and I knew mom would let me wish anything I wanted for my present. And I had just the perfect thing in mind- a vacation to the states. I had never been there and the American culture had always fascinated me. I mean, it makes total sense- why wouldn't I want to travel to America? They had malls, and large cities and celebrities.. The real reason was of course not the fact that I wanted to eat at the Cheesecake factory and shop at Forever twenty-one - I wanted to see where my mom had spent her childhood and human years. And maybe.. being back in her home country would make her feel sentimental and she'd finally tell me more about the rest of my family. I had to know who they were and what had happened between them and my mom. It was just so infuriating that she wouldn't tell me anything: I had the right to know! And no one would stand in my way of finding out why I couldn't know them. So, I had decided to talk to Aro about getting a vacation as a gift beforehand, so my mom would have no reason to refuse and he had been totally cool with it. It wasn't that big of a surprise since Aro had always seemed to be quite fond of me, though.

"Mom, I have exciting news."

"Yes, dear?", she said and turned to face me.

"So.. I asked Aro about this birthday gift I had in mind and he was totally cool with it soo.. we're going on vacation in America in a few days!" Her face went blank and she remained silent.

"We'll fly to New York first and visit some other cities and..yeah. It'll be completely awesome!", I squealed.

"You went to Aro with this?", Bella asked. "And he said yes?"

"Yea! Isn't this great?"

"I mean.. I guess so. Do you happen to know who'll be accompanying us?"

"I don't know, Jane maybe. Doesn't make a difference", I continued excitedly.

Mom was still looking weary and seemed deep-in-thought. I wonder what that was all about.

Now that I had told mom, nothing would stop me. The trip was happening and no matter what, I knew I'd return feeling closer to my roots than I did now. I was already brimming with excitement and Wednesday couldn't come soon enough! Just two days until I would be seeing the places my mom had seen and known all those years ago. Maybe I would finally feel like I belonged somewhere, maybe I would finally understand why mom always seemed to miss her life away from Volterra. Or maybe I'd return feeling like a naïve fool. Who knows?- maybe I'd get both.

 **Bpov**

I was torn between feelings of hope and fear. On one hand I was going back to my home country- even if it was just for a week or two-, something I never thought I'd get to do. And I would, for the first time since arriving in Volterra, have a chance of seeing one of _them_ again. A _very_ slim chance..but a chance nonetheless!

But on the other hand.. what difference would it make? I couldn't see them, it was too dangerous. If they met Amanda they'd kill her and if I even _tried_ to contact any of the Cullens, they'd be dead. But maybe, just maybe this would be a turning leaf. The past thirty years I had thought of nothing but Renesmee, first and foremost. But now as she was getting older and more independent, I knew I couldn't keep living like this, keeping things from her and helping the Volturi with whatever questionable tasks they gave me. I needed to change things but there was no way for me to do that without getting someone of _them_ killed- and that was _the last_ thing I wanted.

Oh, how I wish things would be different. I would be lying if I told you that I had never fantasized about Aro never having found me. More times than I could count had I wished that Edward would never have left that morning for whatever reason he then _had_ left for. I had wished Aro wouldn't have come and we would've raised Renesmee _together_. Together we would've chosen her a nice school and she would've grown up feeling loved. She might have been the most spoilt child as she would've been showered with gifts and compliments and pure adoration but she would've been as happy as a child can be. I wonder just how different things would be. Would I be sitting in a living room somewhere next to Edward with our nearly as cold, rock hard bodies curled up against each other as Renesmee told us about her day. I knew the idea of what that life would've been like was completely surreal but I acknowledged the fact that the reality couldn't have matched up to my dreams. There would have still been days when we would have fought, days when Renesmee would have given me the silent treatment. But that didn't matter- that life would have been perfect through and through, even with all it's imperfections.

A few days later, Wednesday finally arrived and I was, weirdly enough, _relieved._ Renesmee had been acting completely erratic ever since her birthday and hadn't stood still since. She would run around our apartment, babble without ending and simply not stop saying how " _awesome"_ the trip would be. Frankly, she was starting to drive me a little mad. I of course couldn't blame her- her happiness could never _actually_ annoy me.

Any way, the awaited day had finally arrived and we were sitting onboard an American Airlines- plane. Renesmee was sitting to my right, on the window seat and the other seat next to me was unoccupied- Jane was sitting a few rows behind us. It was going to be a 10-hour-flight and I definitely wasn't looking forward to sitting still in this enclosed place, surrounded by humans. Don't get me wrong, I didn't see myself as someone _above_ humans or as someone _better_ than them- I just didn't feel all that comfortable around them anymore. Renesmee and I stood out with our supernatural looks and we were constantly stared at and besides, I couldn't find it in me to relax among the smell of blood that acted as a constant reminder of my vampire side that I wasn't particularly fond of.

About a third of the way into the flight it was lunchtime and Renesmee was staring at the steaming food in front of her with a look of slight disgust.

"That was always my least-favourite part of flying too. The plastic-packed brownies are fine and the crackers too, but the over-cooked, over-processed food in that plastic packaging- not so much", I laughed, admittedly not envious of this part of being human. Or well being a _siren_ , since Renesmee was more of a mix between a siren and a vampire than a human and a vampire.

"Yeah, not funny mom. I'm _starving_. Well, _maybe_ it tastes better than it looks..", she said, not impressed by her own optimism, and removed the lid of her steaming dish of meat stew and mash.

"So, what are you most excited about?", I asked her after a while of her pushing the food from one side of the plate to another with her fork.

"Oh just umm.. Everything!"

"Everything. Really?"

"Well, I really don't know what to expect! I'm excited to see all the sights and big cities. And shopping and the food of course! And you know, you and…", she said and stopped abruptly until she continued speaking: "I mean, _you_ are American which makes _me_ sort of American. So.. I want to see what the whole thing's about."

That didn't sound too good. I kept a straight face and didn't say anything even though the sharp look she was giving me _definitely_ expected me to react. She was smiling slyly and it was clear that she knew exactly what she was doing. I felt bad knowing that she'd be disappointed if the reason she wanted to come here was that she wanted to get closer to her heritage or get _me_ to tell her about it: I knew I wouldn't be able to and the answer she was looking for wasn't going to lie in seeing the Statue of liberty or Times square.

"You said you wanted to visit another city too. So what exactly _did_ you plan with Aro?", I asked after a minute or two. I had been curious about it but she hadn't wanted to tell me.

"Well, we'll be a few days in New york. Then, we'll fly to Chicago and we'll finish the trip in Seattle", she announced excitedly yet matter-of-factly.

" _Three_ cities? Are you sure you didn't go a _bit_ overboard? I know Aro likes to spoil you but that's a lot!"

"I know.. But I told him this would be the only present I'd ask him before I turn 100! And besides, the Volturi are rich. They wouldn't have any better use for the money anyway."

"Well, it is _your_ birthday so I guess it's your choice. And you're definitely right about the last part..", I said and laughed.

Renesmee was thirty years old but it was at times like this I noticed just how teenish she could act. Very well, it wasn't like I minded _her_ spending Aro's fortunes- In a weird way I was sort of happy about that part. Aro and I hadn't exactly become besties after what he did to me but I didn't _completely_ hate him. I couldn't: he was the reason Renesmee- and _I_ also for that matter- was alive and there was no telling if she would have died during the process of me giving birth if the Volturi hadn't been there to help me through it. Giving birth to a vampire hadn't been exactly safe or in any way _uncomplicated._ Actually it had been the opposite. I hadn't thought for a second I would make it through it. It hadn't even been a priority of mine: all that mattered was Renesmee being born safe. I had made Aro swear that she would be safe if I didn't survive but luckily I did- all thanks to Alec changing me. So yes, I didn't like Aro but we had learned to live civilly and somewhat in agreement, at least to some extent.

After some more painfully slow-moving hours we landed in New York. It was Autumn and even though it was still quite warm, there were signs of colder weather nearing. Renesmee was looking really tired after the flight so we headed straight for the hotel as it was already seven pm. We would start our sightseeing and shopping the next day and I was sure it would be great. I hated to admit it, but it sure did feel _great_ to be home after all this time. Even though I'd never lived in New York, the thought of being back on the same _continent_ was comforting. I didn't realize it at the time but right then a small idea started slowly creeping to my thoughts: maybe I could make just a _tiny_ detour and see how good old Forks was doing nowadays. Who would that hurt?


	14. Chapter 14

****An: Hey guys, hope you like this one! It's a peek to what the Cullens have been up to the thirty years since Bella's disappearance. As always, thanks for reading and leave comments or suggestions if you want to.****

 ** **Clarizza****

 **Amanda's pov**

I was making myself lunch- pesto pasta- and listening to the radio when I heard Alice come downstairs.

"Good morning", she told me.

"Morning Alice", I smiled slightly.

"Wanna go see Beauty and the beast with me tonight? I _really_ want to see just how good Emma Watson will be in the role."

"Yeah, sure. The cartoon was my and Be..", I sighed and gulped. "It was.. it was our favourite movie when we were kids", I said with my voice breaking by the end.

Alice looked at me empathetically and placed her hand on my shoulder. She didn't say anything: we had been here a thousand times before and she knew I didn't want to start crying hysterically about it every time it crossed my mind, which was often.

"Maybe Rose might want to join us. Or Esme", I said after composing myself.

"Yea, that's a great idea. The guys are going hunting so they won't be much company. And Edward.. well you know Edward. We don't even need to ask, he isn't coming."

Alice was referring to Edward's new way of living. _Living_ being a very loose term- he was barely existing. He had never been social of lively or anyone who loved doing stuff continuously but he had had his likes and dislikes. _Now,_ he was more like a feelingless , empty body walking around. He went hunting every now and then and left his room or the living room only to go running for hours at a time. The rest of the time he sort of just sat there. He tried reading a book here or there and he'd even tried playing the piano like he used to, but it hadn't worked out at all. It was like all life had been sucked out of him ever since… _Bella_ disappeared. I had to take a deep breath to compose myself again.

Thirty years ago my sister had mysteriously vanished into thin air and the following months- well more like years actually- all of us, Edward especially, had been looking for her everywhere. Without success as you can guess. It seemed like Bella had just took off and left- there had been no sign of forced entry or struggle and no items missing. Bella was just simply _gone._ Even to this day I hope she might appear here in Seattle and we'd reunite. But I can feel the hope get smaller than it already is by the second and doubts are replacing it. Doubts of where she could be and why. Of whether Bella even wants to be found and of whether she's even alive. I may never get an answer.

Anyway, Edward had been looking through the continental US from top to bottom but we all knew that it couldn't go on forever. Eventually we would have to accept the fact that we may never see Bella again. Slowly we started looking for her less and less until we stopped entirely. If it meant we'd find her, I would still be looking for her but that just isn't the case. We needed to at least try to move on even though we- Edward and I especially- didn't want to. The only thing that kept me through the time of accepting that Bella was gone was Ethan. He listened to me through countless nights of crying and sobbing and supported me. I never thought he and I would end up here: completely in love.

My feelings for him had caught up to me slowly, without me even really noticing it before I was in deep. We had spent so much time together that transitioning from friends to a couple was quite efforttless- we were already each other's best friends. And a year after Bella's disappearance Ethan proposed. We were moving fast, sure, but we knew what we wanted. We got married on Renee and Charlie's wedding day and it was a beautiful ceremony. We had a nice wedding altogether, very intimate. The only thing missing was my sister. I almost didn't go through with it because doing it without her felt so wrong.

"Hey girls. Making lunch?", Ethan walked into the kitchen and kissed me on the cheek.

"Yea. So Alice tells me you're going hunting tonight?", I asked.

"Really? Actually, I hadn't thought about it yet. I guess we are", he said nonchalantly and laughed.

I gave Alice a look.

"I had a vision, so what? I was sure."

Ah, Alice's visions. If she could just see what happened to Bella! She hadn't seen anything about her since she disappeared. It was weird- she had never seen either of us clearly but you'd think she would at least have seen _something._ But no, it was completely silent. She had tried so hard to have even a small glimpse but she just couldn't- and she felt terrible for it.

"You two have plans for the night, then?", he asked us both.

"Yes, a girls night!", Alice said excitedly. At times like this it seemed like Alice hadn't changed at all but Bella's disappearance had taken a toll on her, too. She hasn't been anywhere near as happy as she always used to be.

"Well have fun then. Oh, should I ask Edward to go hunting with Emmet, Jasper and I? Did you see him there?"

"No, I didn't see him. But you can _ask._ He'll probably say no just like he says to everything else, but you can try", Alice said sharply.

"Alice, he's doing his best", I said quietly.

"I know, but he should.. try harder", she said with her eyes filled with sadness.

I didn't know if Edward would ever be the same. I doubted he would- he had cared for Bella so deeply and a love like that doesn't just go away. Bella was his mate and I didn't know if that would ever change. Or if it even could.

"Eddie, wanna come hunting with us tonight?", Ethan asked upstairs.

"No, maybe another time", he said as he came out of his room.

His eyes were black and his undereyes were greyer and darker than ever. His hair was a mess and he was wearing the same clothes he'd worn yesterday. He looked more tired than he had ever before. He gave a tiny smile- one he most likely faked- to Alice and I and then he left for one of his many runs. It seemed like where Ethan was what kept me sane for him it was running. Maybe because it took his mind off things.

My pasta was finally done and I sat on the tale to eat. I had gotten used to eating alone since I barely ever had someone who ate with me. Ethan, Alice or someone else would occasionally sit and keep me company but it wasn't the same. I had started to think of food more as a fuel than a source of pleasure.

* * *

"Okay, here's our tickets!", Rosalie smiled when she walked to us from the sale's counter. Esme, Alice and I were standing in line so I could pay for my over-priced, yet _so_ good movietheater-popcorn.

"Great", I replied. Rosalie had also changed during the thiry years that had gine by. _She,_ however, had become more _soft_ and just more enjoyable company. I don't know what had erased the bitterness in her but somehow- though it was still there- it had faded to he background.

"Let's go then", Esme said.

We took our seats on row 10 and for the next few hours, I was wrapped up in the fantasy of the movie. Belle got her beloved Beast and he turned to the handsome prince just like he did in the cartoon Bella and I had watched a million times over all those years ago. I teared up by the end- maybe not just because of the movie.

Once outside, we were walking past the ice cream parlour when I got the biggest craving for something sweet.

"Hey, you guys mind if I get an ice cream real quick?", I asked.

They all laughed and headed for the parlour.

"Now what to pick. Chocolate's always good but so is strawberry.. Hmm.. Oh, they have tiramisu ice cream here?", I spoke quietly mostly to myself. "I'll have a scoop of the tiramisu one please. In a cup!"

We sat down for a few minutes as I ate and in that moment we were all incredibly happy. We were sitting by a table of five and the cold ice cream tasted heavenly.

Slowly though, the mood started changing and the fifht chair was screaming with it's emptiness every time I glanced it's way. Bella would have sat there, if she'd been here. She _should_ be sitting there. Suddenly I got angry- something I hadn't felt in a while. I didn't know who or what I was angry at- not Bella, that's for sure- but I was filled with a surprisingly strong rage. I felt angry that she couldn't be here and share these moments with us. She had the right to! She had every right in the world to be happy and be here eating ice cream with her family! So why wasn't she, why couldn't she be here? What had _happened_ to her?

"You okay, Amanda?",Alice asked me.

I snapped back to reality and found three pairs of vampire eyes, full of concern, looking at me.

"Yea... I guess. Just zoned out", I sighed. "Ready to leave?"

* * *

Ethan came home to see me at ten thirty that night. I was waiting up for him since it was Saturday and I wouldn't have to go to school before Monday. I was studying at a university of sorts. Graphic design- it had become a big passion of mine.

"Everything good?", he asked me when he saw me. I guess I looked troubled.

"Yeah, just been thinking about Bella a lot today. I just really miss her."

"I know. And that's okay, it's okay to miss her."

I smiled at him. Oh, what would I do without him, he always knew exactly what to say.

I went to the bathroom to get ready to bed. After washing off my makeup I brushed my teeth, changed to my pajamas and took my birth control pill- I still took them to keep my periodcramps more tolerable.

"You look so beautiful", Ethan said as I crawled to bed next to him. He would be leaving back soon but stayed until I'd be asleep.

I kissed him in response. Our lips caressed one another familiarly for a minute of two until I pulled back laughing.

"Aren't Emmet and Jasper waiting for you?", I said and kissed him again.

He grumbled quietly. "Let them wait", he laughed and pulled me closer.

I giggled between his kisses.

"Ethan! What the hell's taking so long?", Emmet yelled from outside.

Ethan pulled away with an expression of exaggarated dissapointment.

I laughed:"Duty calls."

"Guess so. But we'll continue from where we left off tomorrow"

"Is that a promise?", I teased.

His response was a grin before he jumped out of the window and disappeared into the night. I would never understand why vampires did that and didn't just use the door that wasn't even that far away. I mean, that's what we have a front door _for._ I laughed quietly once more in the empty room before I fell asleep with Ethan's presence floating in the air around me.


	15. Chapter 15

**An: Hey again, I'm really enjoying writing at the moment so I hope you still like reading it! Thanks for everything**

 **Clarizza**

 **R pov**

"Wow", I said as I saw the view from our hotel window the next morning. New York was _amazing!_ There were yellow cabs and people everywhere and the sight of the huge city I saw before me got me even more excited about the upcoming trip. After grabbing a quick breakfast, we headed to do some sightseeing. We went around the city until it was already two o'clock and we saw the Empire State Building and Central Park. _Then_ was time for one of the things I had looked forward to the most: shopping. My mom wasn't really a fan of walking around malls and shops but I loved it. Going through countless racks of beautiful clothing, jewellery, accessories and shelves of makeup was unimaginably enjoyable. I found a few beautiful dresses from Abercrombie and made some serious damage at Sephora: I bought some lipsticks, makeup brushes, a highlighting palette and an eyeshadow palette. I found some cool ripped jeans from Levi's and sneakers from Nike. On top of all that, I bought a few shirts here and there and a Michael Kors -bag. To say I splurged and spent a little too much money would be an understatement. Well, at least I'd look nice.

Mom walked around with me and didn't complain once- she knew that would only slow me down more. So I had walked through dozens of shops dragging her- and Jane, who followed us pretty much everywhere we went- with me from one shop to the other. Mom hadn't really bought many things but she had found a nice navy dress and a pair of ankle-length boots, both of which suited her style to perfection.

We'd stopped for a quick snack in the middle of our- well, _my-_ shopping spree and I had eaten a sandwich. So it wasn't a surprise that I was starving like hell when we were done at seven pm.

"Where would you like to have dinner?", mom asked me, noticeably relieved that the shopping was over.

"I'm craving some pizza. I think there's a place near our hotel."

"Pizza it is."

* * *

I ordered a lemonade and started drinking it urgently because I was so thirsty.

"Mom, do you mind? The lemonade is a little too warm", I said and eyed my not-so-chilled beverage. She rolled her eyes but cooled it down to a point where some of it started freezing with her siren-vampire abilities- god, I wish I could've done that.

The steaming hot Hawaiian pizza- pineapple is _the_ best topping- arrived and I digged right in.

"Mmm.. This is some amazing pizza", I said.

My mom laughed. " I used to love it too. It was one of ou.. my favourite foods", she said.

Here we go again. Mom would do this thing where she'd begin to say "our" but cut herself off and say "my". She'd tell me about doing this or that- no details; that was o _bviously_ too much to ask from her- and it would seem like she was somewhere else. It would seem like she was back home, wherever that may be, with whomever she considered the other half of "our". I had always thought mom had meant dad but now she talked about liking pizza? No, a vampire would not consider pizza _one of their favourite foods_.

"Mom, who's the other person you're talking about?"

"Huh? What do you mean?", she asked looking too convincing. She didn't fool me, I saw the slight flash of guilt in her eyes.

"Come on mom, I'm not stupid. You talk about your past in plural."

"I don't know what you mean. And besides, if I _did_ talk in plural, I may only be talking.. about your father."

"Oh, so my _vampire_ father was a big fan of pizza? Wouldn't have seen that one coming! Then again, I know nothing about him so it's to be expected, isn't it?", I snapped at her.

"Honey, what's going on? I'm sorry but.. I really can't tell you much. The pizza thing, I was referring to my..um.. mother. _We_ used to love pizza", she said but I still felt like she was lying.

"You haven't told me much about her. What was her name?", I asked. I really didn't know much about mom's parents.I knew her mom had brownish hair and that she'd been a little silly and impulsive- and that she used to be a siren, of course. But that was basically it. The same went for my mom's dad: he had had curly brown hair, he'd loved sports and he'd been a little shy and awkward. I knew just the basics of who they had been.

"Her name was Renee. She was the best parent I could've asked for. And so was Charlie, my father", she spoke with a small hint of sadness but also fondness in her voice.

"What was their last name? Masen like yours and mine?"

"Well, Bella Masen.. it isn't exactly my _real_ name. But it's the one I.. have to use", she said and looked down at her hands.

Wait, what? Did I not know her at all? It was like I saw a whole new person coming out of my mother, the only person I had trusted wholeheartedly my entire life.

"What do you mean? What _is_ your real name?"

She was quiet and I could see her struggling strongly. I could see she _wanted_ to tell me but for some reason she thought she couldn't. Or shouldn't.

"Isabella. That's all you need to know."

I didn't question it further. For the first time I think I understood it, at least partly. For the first time I became aware of the fact that there might've been something more going on: that maybe mom wasn't keeping all these things from me just for the sake of not telling me. I understood that she was trying to make me understand that she just simply couldn't tell me and that, no matter what _I_ would tell her, her lips were sealed shut by something above her control.

"I understand mom. For the first time, I _really_ do understand what you're trying to say. And I'm so sorry", I said without looking away from her eyes. All these years she couldn't tell me and it hadn't been because of me but because of something else. Maybe it wasn't about _me_ not knowing but about _Aro_ not knowing- which he would if he read my mind. And that was why I shouldn't be having these thoughts either. I shouldn't be trying to figure this mystery out. Mom had been trying hard to keep me oblivious and maybe for good reason. That didn't mean I didn't want to figure all this out, though- I was way too curious to let the whole thing, whatever it was, just be.

 **Bpov**

How could I let this happen? I had stayed strong for all of Renesmee's thirty-year life. And _now,_ I begin to let my guard down? And for what exactly- it's not like she knowing my maiden name or anything about my past life is going to make all of this any easier for her. She would never get to know her family or the other half of herself. She might always feel like a piece of her is missing. And me telling her about these things that I've kept quiet about for so long isn't going to change it for the better. Telling her had naturally felt good and I knew I would've told her everything if it were safe. But it wasn't.

I went through my conversation with Aro all those years ago, when we made our agreement of sorts. He had demanded me to not mention the Cullens or Forks but _technically_ he hadn't really said much else. I couldn't mention Amanda because then Aro would find out about the existence of a second siren, which he wouldn't accept- he'd kill her if he found out. But my parents- they weren't off limits. And telling about _Amanda_ wasn't either- I couldn't tell about a sister but I could tell about my friends. And Amanda _was_ my friend. I could just leave the sister part out.

Renesmee was still chewing her gigantic pizza and she seemed to enjoy it. As I looked at my beloved daughter I knew I had to tell her more.

"My mom used to take me to ballet. I was a terrible dancer but I still tried for a few years. I danced at this little studio with Amanda.. a friend of mine. She was extremely beautiful. She had crazy long and sleek brown hair and big, bright blue eyes. She was such a happy person and she could always make anyone smile. She used to love shopping, maybe even more than you, and we were best friends for a large part of my life."

She looked at me with a half surprised half mesmerized look.

"It was a long time ago but I still remember her like it was yesterday. We practically grew up together", I continued. She didn't need to know that by "practically" I meant "literally".

"Did you ever see her again? Or did you say goodbye forever when you were both young and never saw her after she'd grown old?", she asked.

"I didn't get to say goodbye. And no, I never saw her again."

"I guess she must be dead at the moment. Graved in a coffin somewhere."

"That's the thing with befriending humans. They won't live forever so you'll have to let them go sooner or later", I said. "But I think that's how it's supposed to be. People live but also die. It's the natural circle of life."

"So we don't fit to the natural circle of life then?", she asked.

"I guess we have our own place in it. And we, too, _will_ die eventually. In a long time, but eventually."

* * *

"So, should we visit the Statue of liberty tomorrow?", I asked Renesmee before she went to sleep.

"Of course! That'll be great. Oh, and when will our plane leave again?"

"At 6am, the day after tomorrow. So tomorrow will be our last day here."

"And then off to Chicago! Have you ever been there?", she asked.

I _lived_ there with Amanda. "Once or twice", I said, still afraid of sharingtoo much of my past.

"Great! You'll know how to show me around then!"

I smiled at her. Yes I would. The windy city was where Amanda and I had lived before Phoenix- which was before Forks. So yes, it had been a while, but I was sure I'd feel right back home once we got there.

When Renesmee had fallen asleep, I decided to go grab some air. Jane, who'd been following us from afar the entire day had been sitting in another part of our hotel room but as soon as she heard me leave she followed.

"Where are you going?"

"Just a walk. I'll be fine on my own."

Her eyes narrowed and I could see her contemplating whether to let me go or not.

"Okay, well join me then", I said. Maybe I needed to get her trust before she'd leave me alone.

"Okay."

* * *

I hadn't really talked to Jane all that much even though we had worked a few cases together. There had been this one incident where a few Volturi men had been seen by a large group of people and Jane had been sent to help me erase their memories of the incident. I had to of course do the whole erasing part but it was nice that she'd been there- some vampires I had worked with didn't care less if the humans were hurt or not, but Jane at least hadn't _wanted_ them to suffer. That was enough for me to trust her just an inch more than I did the rest of the Volturi. Doesn't mean I didn't hate her, on a level, but she was more tolerable than most.

"You know, you don't have to keep an eye on us every second of this trip. If you want to, you can enjoy yourself too", I said when we were walking along the sidewalk. Wow, this really is the city that never sleeps: there were people and cars everywhere.

"It's my job. I'd like to do it properly thank you very much."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't. But why not take advantage of being here? It shouldn't be just a work gig for you."

"Really Isabella, it's fine."

"Call me Bella."

She nodded.

"So, I've always wanted to ask. What made Aro think you'd be this crazy powerful vampire in the first place? He told me that a vampire-turned siren would be a lot more powerful than any vampire but you're not really.. well, special", she asked me after a few minutes.

"I wish I knew Jane. I have no idea where he might have gotten that impression from."

I laughed. His exact words had been "powers vampires could only dream of" and that was clearly not the case. A little water manipulation and just plain old siren mindcontrol- nothing that special about it. Although, I had never _tried_ to do anything more.I realized that I had never thought about that the problem could be me and not Aro's expectations. Maybe I could do more but I just hadn't figured it out yet. If that was the case, it would be up to _me_ to harness the additional powers I had in me. Maybe one day I would.

We walked for a few hours until we returned to the hotel. I grabbed my trusty Pride and prejudice- paperback and read for the rest of the night. Oh Lizzy and Darcy- they get me every time.


	16. Chapter 16

**An: Hey everyone, sorry for being away. Hope you like this one. Thanks a lot for reading, it really means a lot to me!**

 **Until next time, Clarizza 3**

 **ps. Does anyone know how you can delete reviews? I've been getting some spam recently and I'd like to delete it since it's completely useless.**

 **Am pov**

I walked through a supermarket near Seattle center and packed my cart with basic necessities like cereal, flour, chicken and milk. The one good thing about being the only one who ate human food back at our house was that I got to eat whatever I wanted and no one would say anything about it. I could pack the kitchen with all my favourite foods and I could be certain that no one else would eat them before I could. I usually went to do groceries once a week and it was mostly a quick trip. I didn't have to think about anyone else so I usually just grabbed my favourite things and made sure I had enough ingredients to make dinners and lunches for the week.

Previously that day I had went on a few lectures at the university. Today's theme had been all about the usage of colors in graphic design: how different hues gave a different impression and how combining different shades should be made. It had been quite an interesting subject but really nothing that special. I had really liked my studies so far and I had decided I would try and get work in this field after graduation- I was sick and tired of jumping from high school to college and back to high school again. For once I wanted to try living slightly differently, as a working woman as opposed to a student. Of course I'd probably get back to being a high schooler after the few years in whichever place we would move to next, but I wanted to try something different.

This was both the best and worst part of being immortal: you could always start again and relive times in life but you couldn't really pass on to the next chapter. I would always be a teen slash young adult. Unless I had children of course. That would change my entire life and make me mortal. But I wasn't even considering it: I had Ethan and I didn't want to leave him alone. He had always told me he'd support me with whichever choice I made but for me, there wasn't really a choice to be made. I guess having a child may have been nice and an experience like none other but I wouldn't be willing to pay the price. And it's not like there was anyone who I could've had a kid with- the only men in my life were vampires.

"Hey, Amanda!", I suddenly heard a woman speak behind me, next to a bread shelf.

I turned around to see who the speaker was.

"Oh hi, Melanie. I didn't see you there!", I said as I recognized my classmate.

"Yeah, I just came here to grab a few things before going home. I'm holding a party on friday. You should come!"

"Umm, sure. Maybe. I'll think about it!"

"Come on, it'll be great! Besides you never come anywhere with us. Don't you want to get to know some classmates better?"

I hadn't been as sociable as I usually were during my studies here in Seattle. I had just felt so drained both mentally and physically. I hadn't felt like getting to no anyone so most people at the university had just accepted the fact that I mostly kept to myself. Being here without Bella in my life had just felt so terrible that in the beginning I don't think I even tried to like it here.

"Sure, I guess that would be best. I'll see, maybe I can make it", I said and smiled.

"Okay, well I'll see you around school then! And _hopefully_ on Friday."

I nodded and continued my way through the endless aisles of food until I came to the ice cream one. I grabbed a packet of caramel ice cream and some strawberry sorbet- match made in heaven.

* * *

When I came home that day, it was really quiet at the house. It was like there was no one home.

"Anyone here?", I asked to the eerie quietness.

"Me", Edward said with a voice I could barely hear.

It broke my heart seeing him like this. He didn't deserve to be going through this. Bella being gone was as wrong for him as it was for her. I decided to go talk to him. Who knows, maybe this time I'd get through to him.

"Hey", I said as I slowly opened his door. I hadn't been in his room in a few weeks but it hadn't change in the slightest. Everything was where it had been- nothing had literally moved an inch.

He didn't answer my hello.

"You wanna talk?", I asked as I walked in.

"Not particularly", he said blankly and kept looking outside.

"Well, _should_ we talk?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Well since you're here, _you_ apparently think we need to", he said.

Now it was my turn to be quiet for a while. "You're right. I do. The thing is Edward.. I know what you've been through is hard. And I'm not saying it isn't but..you can't keep going on like this and you know that. No one's expecting you to move on just like that but you can't just.. cease to live."

He didn't say anything.

"This isn't what _she_ would've wanted."

As soon as I said it he stood up.

"Don't _you_ tell me what she would've wanted. I _know_ what she wanted. And that _damn_ sure wasn't this, whatever it is. _She_ would have wanted to be happy, maybe meet some guy she could have a kid and grow old with. And I'm the reason she didn't get to have that. I'm the reason this is happening. I'm the reason she is god knows where, doing god knows what. And that's if she's even alive! So yes, _Amanda_ , I know she didn't want this. And now I understand that she never really wanted me either."

This was the first time in awhile there was actual emotion in his eyes. Granted, it was anger, but emotion nonetheless.

"None of this is your fault. And we don't even know what happened to her. We may never know.."

"That's the thing. If I just _knew_ what happened to her, maybe I could at least _try_ to move on. But I don't. I still wait for her to show up at my door and explain where the hell she's been all this time! But I don't think she will. Amanda, I _really_ don't think she'll ever come back. And that's what scares me the most: never finding out if she's okay and never seeing her again. Never, no matter how long I live."

"Edward, I know. And I fear that too, more than you could ever imagine. But we have to try to move on. Not forget her nor replace her. Just be more.. at peace with it. Accept that, wherever she is, she knows that we care about her."

"My caring for her doesn't mean anything. On the contrary, it's what got her in this mess in the first place."

I knew it was time for me to leave him be. After holding my hand on his shoulder for a minute I stood up and left. For the first time since Bella's disappearance, I actually thought he might be okay. Not perfect or in any way great, but at least _okay_.

* * *

I went downstairs only to find Alice and Ethan already back.

"Hey you!", Ethan said and ran to embrace me.

I didn't say anything and just stayed there in his arms.

"What is it babe?", he asked worriedly.

I shook my head quietly and took a step back.

"Where have you two been?", I asked them after a moment.

"Oh, nowhere", Alice said with mock-innocence beaming off her face.

I looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"You do know what day it is, right?", she asked.

I didn't say anything.

"It's your birthday Amanda!"

I laughed. "Oh right, I suppose it is. So?"

"Well, we got you a gift. And your favourite cupcakes!", she beamed.

"Really, a gift? We haven't celebrated my birthday in years", I laughed again.

"Well I wanted to get you something this year!"

"Thanks Alice. Can I see it?", I said.

I had never hated gifts or attention. On Bella and my birthdays I had always been over the moon over all the guests who were there just for me. Bella had stayed in the background since she wasn't really keen on either attention or being gifted something. I had never understood what was so bad about having people buy you stuff.

"Okay, here it is. You'll love it, I know", she exclaimed.

"You _know_ or you _know_ know?", I asked.

"No, I _still_ can't see your future. Don't remind me", she said playfully with a small annoyance in her eyes. I knew she hated having a blind spot in us sirens and I teased her about it from time to time.

She gave me a pretty, small package with a pink bow on top and it was almost too beautiful and neat to open. I removed the lid and saw the most beautiful silver necklace with diamonds engraved in it. It was a beautiful small swan that had an "A" for Amanda engraved to it. It took my breath away how beautiful it was. I turned it around to further inspect it and saw a tiny "B" -for Bella- on the other side.

"Alice, Ethan. It's so beautiful. I'm speechless", I said with tears in my eyes as I hugged the both of them.

"I knew you'd like it. And I didn't even need to be psychic", Ethan laughed.

"Like it? I _love_ it. Really, thanks the both of you", I said with deeper gratitude than they could ever guess.

"So, you still want any of these?", Alice asked after I had stared at the swan for another two minutes. She was holding a small box of my favourite salted caramel cupcakes in her hands.

"Do you even have to ask? Gimme those", I laughed. God I was glad sirens couldn't really get fat. Otherwise I would have been screwed with the sweet tooth I had.

"Oh by the way we also got these: Tickets for the _Mamma mia -_ musical next Friday. We got eight so we'll all go together. Well, we aren't sure of Edward yet but we got him one just to be sure", Ethan said.

"Great, _Mamma mia_ is my favourite one", I said.

"Never gets old", Alice laughed.

"Never does", I sighed quietly.

No matter how much I missed Bella at times like this I couldn't be unhappy. At moments like this one I could almost imagine that Bella was somewhere safe, maybe even happy. I thought maybe she was alright. I returned to reality when I was alone of course, but those small moments of happiness and hope where the thing that kept me going. The thing that made me smile even when I had many reasons not to. In that small moment in time I really felt like it'd all be okay. One day.


	17. Chapter 17

**An: Hey again! I've been away because I just have a lot on my plate right now. I'm sure you'll understand.. Anyway hope you like this one and thanks** _ **so**_ **much for reading.**

 **Until later (hopefully sooner this time), Clarizza**

 **Bpov**

Renesmee and I were walking through the seemingly endless halls of Chicago aquarium, surrounded by fishes in every colour imaginable. Even to this day I was always mesmerized by the beauty of the sea and the things living in it. The only thing I wanted to do was go swimming among all the beautiful creatures drifting in the water. They would've been better off in the sea of course- a life inside four walls isn't really a life. At least they wouldn't be eaten alive by other fish living in these tanks.

Renesmee was looking at the fish with equal fascination to mine.

"Thank god it's a full moon today. I'm dying to go on a proper swim", Renesmee said so only I could hear her.

"Yes. Lake Michigan is a little cold right now but we'll be fine. It's no Great Barrier Reef but it'll do", I said.

"Yes, Australia was amazing. We need to go there some other time", Renesmee said still looking at the fish with concentration.

"Maybe. We'll have to see what Aro thinks..", I said quietly.

"Right, of course"

It was quiet for a minute until Renesmee spoke.

"Why do we need to ask Aro, though? He doesn't control us."

"Renesmee.. We live in a house owned by the Volturi. I work for them. The only reason we're alive is Aro and the Volturi, you know that."

"Yes.. I've heard the story of the Volturi turning you after giving birth and taking care of me while you were in transition. But it's been thirty years! I think you've already showed your gratitude."

"Maybe", I said and continued walking forward. We couldn't talk about this, much less discuss it here in public with Jane within earsight.

* * *

 **Rpov**

This trip had slowly become like some sort quest for secret revealing. I seemed like I hadn't really known my mother at all. She was telling me all these things, one after another, and it didn't seemed to end. Next she'd probably tell me that one of the Volturi was my father or something! I was over the moon because of the fact that she was starting to open up. I had always known that despite her loving me -which I knew she did- she kept things from me. She had never been open about things and people from her past. But now I was starting to realize that it wasn't just her past she was keeping from me. It was allsorts of things: things about me, about the present and even the future for all I knew. But the big question was _why._ Why did she think she had to do this? Was she just protecting me from finding out or was it something else? All I knew was that there had to be something bigger going on. It had to be something big for her not to tell me after all this time.

We were sitting in a café and I was enjoying my slice of heavenly lemon meringue pie. The tangy bittersweet lemon curd, the fluffy meringue and the crispy buttery crust was a match made in heaven. As I swallowed my fourth bite in silence, I decided to speak.

"You care to tell me what all that was about at the aquarium?"

She kept her facial expressions neutral but her eyes always gave her away. They showed crystal clearly her slight shock after hearing what I said followed by fear of telling me and then replaced by determination. She looked around herself casually, looking for Jane I presumed, and started speaking quietly.

"I don't know if I should tell you this, but Aro and I have a complicated past. You see, I never told you how we came to Volterra. I didn't just one day wake up and decide to become a part of the Volturi. There was a slight.. persuasion involved.. on Aro's behalf ", she said and paused. Then she continued with a small hesitation: "Well, actually. He sort of just.. downright blackmailed me. He threatened to hurt people I cared for unless I followed him. And that's why.. I haven't told you much. I've been afraid that if I told you too many details, Aro wouldn't let you go".

I was in shock and spoke quietly: "Let me go? What do you mean let me go, where am I going?"

"I made a deal with him that you would be allowed to leave when you were old enough under a few conditions: I couldn't tell you about the people I knew prior to coming to Volterra and you would never be allowed to return to Volterra once you left. And.. even though I hate to admit it.. you _are_ old enough now. And, I've been thinking. Maybe you shouldn't return to Volterra at all. Maybe you should start a life here in the states, Seattle for example", she said smiling with sadness she tried to conceal in her eyes.

"What? No, hell no. I'm not leaving you, there's no way. Especially not if you're only there because Aro had some weird leverage on you. You're my mother and I'm not going to leave you. Never. I can't even believe you thought I could!"

"Renesmee.. You deserve to be happy. I'll be okay", she said quietly.

"No, it ain't gonna happen", I said and continued after a pause: "Why haven't you tried to escape?"

"There's no escaping the Volturi, honey. They'll find me. And either way, they _will_ find the people I wanted to protect in the first place."

I had a feeling I might never know who or even what those _people_ were. I was overwhelmed by all the things this trip had taught me. My mother had basically put on a show and played the part every single day of my life. She had pretended to be happy when I knew she never entirely was. She had pretended everything was like it should be even though nothing was. And now she wanted _me_ to get out and be free- on her expense. That wasn't going to happen. I would not be leaving anywhere before I knew how to free mom. And I knew there had to be a way to do just that, there had to be some loophole Aro had missed or something that I could do to get my mom out. Even if it meant putting some mysterious people from my mom's past in danger. I finished my cake in silence and we left for our hotel.

* * *

"Okay honey. It's time to leave. You have all your stuff ready?", mom said from the other end of our hotel room.

"Yea sure. Lake Michigan here we come!", I said trying to sound excited. I _was_ excited but every time I felt too happy I would remember the conversation in the café. _Maybe you should start a life here in the states,_ my mom's voice echoed in my brain. I tried to shake it off but failed to let it go entirely.

We arrived at the beach when it was perfectly dark outside: not _too_ dark but dark enough for us to feel safe going to the water since no one would be able to see us. We walked slowly to the water and soon I felt the cold waves caressing my feet. The deeper I went the more united with the water I felt. I stood with only my head visible above the water and dived. It only took a second for my body to turn and I opened my eyes. The water was black all around me and the only thing I could see was small pieces of vegetation floating in the peaceful water. Mom looked at me so I decided to follow her ahead, deeper to the lake. We started swimming fast, perhaps faster than we had ever swum before. I was of course faster than my mom: her siren side had become less dominant when she had turned into a vampire and given birth to me. It was strange she was even a siren at all since sirens give away their powers when they have children with humans. I guess it really didn't apply for having a child with a vampire.

We swum around and around in the cooling water that I felt all around me and the only thing that was present in my mind was swimming. I forgot all about what was going on above the surface and only focused on the movement of my tail and the water surrounding me. Talk about a flow-experience. We swum and swum until we saw a hint of dawn: that was our cue to leave.

* * *

We dried off on the beach and started walking back to our hotel which wasn't that far. As we were walking along a beautiful little street, my mom suddenly stopped. She was looking at a gorgeous house with grey walls and purple flowers growing on every windowsill. There was an apple tree in front of the little two-story house and it looked quite old.

"I lived here for a few years. Chicago was one of my favourite cities. Not _the_ favourite, but a nice one. I have many fond memories here", she explained.

I looked again at the pretty yet seemingly quite dull house and tried to see it with her eyes.

She could probably remember walking up those stairs a hundred times over and picking those apples in the autumn. This had been her home and she hadn't had one in thirty years. Not really, I realized in that moment. She had lived in our little apartment near the Volturi castle for so many years but never felt really at home. Our apartment was sort of a part of the castle yet mostly separate from it. Still, she didn't see it as a home. I could see it know when she was staring at that house a little outside Chicago. I wonder how she'd feel if she saw the last place she had lived in, wherever that was, before Aro came.

"You tired?", mom asked me when we got to the hotel. We'd been swimming pretty much the entire night and it was now five o'clock in the morning. We had a full day in front of us but I knew I had to get some sleep first.

"Yea, a little. I'll sleep a few hours and we can get going at noon or something", I said and yawned.

"Okay, I'll see if I can come up with something for us to do today. Oh, and I think I saw online that the Mamma Mia musical is on when we're in Seattle. I'll see if I can book us tickets for next Friday!", mom said excitedly. She had always loved Mamma Mia- I'd seen the movie with her a thousand times.

"Great! Good night", I said, hugged her and left her in the living room with Jane. I fell asleep hearing them talking faintly in the distance.


	18. Chapter 18

**An: You guys I'm so sorry for not posting for a week yet again! I've got a lot of schoolwork to do before our summer break so I just didn't find the time. Anyway, here's the new chapter and I hope you like it.**

 ** **Thanks for reading!****

 ** **Until next time, Clarizza****

 **Am pov:**

I woke up feeling more tired than usual at seven in the morning. It was Sunday and I had kept waking up every time I had fallen deep asleep. First it had been too hot then too cold and then it started all over again as I tossed and turned in my bed. Ethan had been out the entire night but now I could hear him downstairs talking with Emmet. I didn't feel like getting out of bed so I just lay there with my face squished against the fluffy pillow for a few minutes.

"Amandaa! Are you still asleep?", I heard Alice yell from downstairs.

"Yes", I said with a normal voice since there was no need for yelling.

I heard laughter downstairs.

" Come on Amanda, there's a thunderstorm that's just about to start. I want to go play baseball!", I heard Emmet say.

I took a deep breath and got out of bed. Being the only one in the house who sleeps wasn't always that easy. I would always be the "human" of our little family even if I wasn't one.

"Okay you guys. I'll eat breakfast in the car", I said amusedly as I walked downstairs after changing out of my pyjamas.

I was greeted with everyone dressed in sportswear and they looked like something from a magazine cover with their matching outfits and Cullen-hats - hats I found quite ridiculous. I was surprised to find even Edward standing on the side, dressed to play.

"Come here", Ethan smiled at me and held an extra hat in front of him.

I shook my head as I laughed but walked up to him and shoved the cap on my head.

"Let's go", I said with a smile.

* * *

Thirty minutes later we arrived in a huge meadow - the place we always played in - and sure enough, I could already hear the thunder rumbling in the sky. We split into to teams and got ready to start. Ethan was going to be the first one hitting the ball and Alice was going to be the one throwing it at him. I saw Alice take an unnecessary deep breath before she threw the ball with incredible speed. I couldn't even imagine what us playing must have looked like for humans: even I thought it was fast-paced. The ball flied through the air and I ran to go get it. I ran through the field to the forest surrounding it with my heart beating quickly in my chest. I was quick but of course I wasn't quite quick enough. After a few seconds of running I saw Edward coming from behind me and passing me. He got the ball and started running back with a grin on his face. Wait, a grin? I stood there frozen in slight shock for a few seconds before running back to the field. Since when had Edward been one to grin- he never really even smiled.

We kept playing for quite some time until it was finally my time to hit the ball. I took a deep focused breath and focused my thoughts solely on the ball in Alice's hands. I didn't see or hear anything else but the ball that would soon be flying towards me so quickly I would have to react without a hint of hesitation if I wanted to hit it. And god knows I did. Alice threw the ball like a snake who attacked but I managed to hit it. It wasn't the best hit in the world as it hit the ground about ten meters off the edge of the meadow, but it was decent enough. Instantly after the ball left my baseball bat I started running. I ran through first base and quickly made my way to the second one.

"Way to go babe! You already play better than Esme!", Ethan laughed and so did everyone else.

"That so?", Esme laughed with a skeptic look. The love was still visible in her eyes but it was clear she took what he said as a challenge.

It was her turn to hit and I saw from her posture that she was prepared. Esme hated violence and didn't particularly like sports, but she was still a Cullen. Being at least somewhat competitive came with the territory. And sure enough Esme hit the ball on the first try and it whooshed through the air and landed somewhere deep in the woods. Her hit was probably the best ones in the game- especially considering that Emmet had a big advantage in being so strong.

After a few hours of playing we decided to head back to the house. It had been one of the best games we'd ever played together. My team, which included Carlisle, Esme, Edward and Rose, had lost but that didn't really bother me that much. We- Edvard included - had had a good time as a family and that was all that counted.

* * *

"Next add six cups of flour and two cups of water", Ethan told me as he read a recipe from a cook book aloud for me. I was making pizza dough for my Hawaiian pizza and Ethan had insisted on helping me.

"How long am I supposed to mix it?", I asked him.

"Doesn't say. Till it's the right consistency, I guess."

We were quiet for a moment. "We used to make pizza with mom all the time", I said.

"And so did Bella and I, even after she was gone. This is the first time I'm baking pizza since she disappeared."

We smiled slightly at each other in silence.

"You think she's dead?", I asked him quietly after a minute.

"Amanda.. Don't think like that" he said and took my hand reassuringly."We can't know what happened to her. Of course there is a possibility.. but I like to think she's out there. Somewhere", he continued.

"I just honestly don't know what to think 's all", I said as I cut into the pineapple in front of me with a little more force than was needed.

Ethan stood up and was by my side in a split second and kissed me on the cheek.

"Sorry", I laughed. I didn't want to keep dwelling over her disappearance after all this time. It had been thirty years and I should've moved on by this time. I hadn't of course, but I was going to try harder, starting now.

"A busy week coming up?", I asked Ethan.

"Not particularly, you know how it is. We've got the Mamma Mia- thing on Friday and apart from that, I've pretty much got only some basic schoolwork to do for the university. We're going through the french renaissance at the moment.", he answered and shrugged. Ethan was studying history at a nearby university.

"Same here. We're starting this group project where we have to design pamphlets for a restaurant. I'm actually really excited for it. I'm so glad I decided to study graphic design."

"It really does suit you, doesn't it? You have an eye for everything pretty."

"Oh, come here", I said and grabbed his arms. I got on my toes and kissed him sweetly for a minute. He lifted me to sit on the table with a swift movement and we continued kissing. I felt his strong hands gently going through my hair and neck as we continued. Even after all this time, I sometimes found it hard to believe that I had found someone so amazing.

After a while I gasped when I felt a pull in my hair.

"What's wrong?", He asked instantly.

"I think your ring just got stuck in my hair", I laughed as I tried to untangle the mess on the back of my head.

"Wait, let me", he said looking intensly into my eyes and removed the ring gently.

We both laughed a minute at the silliness until we went upstairs.

* * *

"Please stay for a while. I slept really bad last night and having you there next to me might help", I said to Ethan as we lay on the bed.

"Sure, of course. I'll stay the whole night if that's what you'd like. Are you stressed or is it something else?"

"Oh no, it's nothing. People have trouble sleeping all the time. I just really want to be in focus tomorrow."

"Right. Well, good night then sleeping beauty", he laughed and stroked my hair.

"Good night, love", I whispered before falling asleep. I slept through the entire night like a baby.


	19. Chapter 19

**An:**

 **Hey guys, I'm back! Hope you like this one.**

 **Till next time, Clarizza.**

 **Bpov**

I looked up from the cup of coffee I had in front of me- the one I wasn't going to touch- only to find Renesmee looking tiredly out the window.

"You okay honey?"

She snapped her face to look at me and shook her head to herself.

"Yeah, totally. Just starting to get homesick I guess.."

I frowned. "Homesick, really? Who would've thought. Well, we have been gone for almost two weeks so it's only normal. But still. So, do you want to return to Italy earlier than planned?"

"No! Absolutely not. I'm loving it here mom, really. This has been the best trip ever. It'll pass."

I squinted my eyes at her in disbelief but she pretended not to notice. She only turned back to her bowl of cornflakes and started shoving the soggy cereal to her mouth. Yeah, I could definitely understand why Edward had found my go-to-breakfast of cheerios quite unappetizing. As I looked at my daughter as she enjoyed her food, I couldn't understand how I once would have loved to do just the same. I laughed silently to myself. Being a vampire had changed my life and me in many ways. I was still the same person in my bones but at the same time I had changed so much. As a siren I had been just an immature teenager and only having Renesmee and raising her while getting used to the new me had made me feel really sure of myself and comfortable with the person I was. Now the only thing I had to get past was my deal with Aro. The only question was how. I had planned for sending Renesmee away so everyone else but me would be safe and no one else would have to suffer. But the thing was, I didn't think that was going to work. First of all, Renesmee being just as stubborn as Edward- and frankly as stubborn as I-, she was never going to leave me behind unless I somehow forced her to. And secondly, how could I make sure she didn't return to get me? Even if I made her promise to never return, one day she'd attempt to get me back. And that wouldn't end well. Aro had been clear about the terms: if Renesmee left, she was never to return.

"Mom, you ready to go?", I heard her ask and pull me back to the reality of this moment. Renesmee was still here with me and we were on a well-deserved vacation. Now was not the time to be stressing about the rest of our eternal life. Or rather the lack of one we could share for much longer.

* * *

It was Friday and we were walking through a huge mall in Seattle. We'd been here for a few days already and we were nearing the end of our trip. In two days we would be on a plane heading back to Italy and that would possibly be the last time I saw my dear-old home country, America. Renesmee might return but not with me. I could feel a change coming, an end for the peaceful life we'd lived for the past thirty years. Though I would have wanted to keep living like that forever, this trip had changed us both. I had told Renesmee so many things that there was no going back to where things were. And frankly, I think that might have been for the best. Our life had been safe and familiar but it had been based on fear and lies. Renesmee deserved more. She deserved a family, more than just me, to love her. She deserved to be free. And most importantly, she deserved to not constantly be lied to. And all of those things were things I just couldn't give her.

I heard Renesmee gasp and halt to a stop. "Oh my god. I need that bag", she said in awe.

I followed her gaze and saw a baby pink Michael Kors bag. "Oh wow, it is pretty. Let's go in and have a look." I smiled at her excitement. I still couldn't understand how someone could get so excited over a _handbag_ of all things. It was just something to throw your stuff in and carry around. Having one or two good bags that went with every outfit was perfectly enough, you didn't need _twenty_.

Renesmee held the leather bag in front of her with her eyes lit up in adoration. She swung it on her shoulders and shifted from side to side in the mirror. She tilted her head as she examined the bag closely. I knew she had already decided that she loved it which pretty much meant that the bag was basically already hers. She was probably just planning what to pair it with in her head.

"Honey, I think you've spent enough of Aro's money already. Perhaps you should pay for this one yourself."

She lifted her head and took another look at the bag.

"Well, I think I've got some savings on my bank account." Renesmee hadn't been working regularly but she had recently started at a design company. She was one of the interns so she didn't have much responsibility, or salary for that matter, but if she did well, she might get to design something of her own one day. She always kept her sketch-book full of clothes designs. I thought she was really talented, but then again my opinion didn't say much. It was biased enough because Renesmee was my daughter but on top of that I didn't even know much about fashion. For me a t-shirt was a t-shirt even if the price was a three-digit number and it was supposedly the design of some fancy designer whose name I couldn't pronounce. So yes, for all I knew she could be totally average, but for me her designs looked really cool and creative.

"Good. You shouldn't spend it all though."

She looked at me suspiciously. "O-kay, if you say so. But if you're saying that because you think I'm going to leave Volterra and go live on my own, you're wrong. It's still not happening." She was probably referring to the conversation we'd had a few days earlier in Chicago. I had told her that she was allowed to- and that she _should_ \- leave the Volturi without me. _Obviously,_ she hadn't loved the idea. And she still didn't.

"Right, of course", I said and turned away pretending to look at the display of bags behind my back.

"No. Really mom. It's not going to happen! I won't leave you alone to rot away under Aro's control. I won't leave you unless I find a way to set you free."

"Honey, there _is_ no way for me to get out of this mess. End of discussion. You might not want to leave me now but sooner or later you will understand where I'm coming from." She tried to argue but I silenced her with a finger. Then she just sighed and walked out of the store. I guess she didn't want the bag after all. I already knew she'd regret not getting it in the morning.

Renesmee kept walking through the wide halls long after we'd gotten out of the store. She was walking so fast, most humans would've had a hard time keeping up even if they had been running. She stared ahead and didn't stop no matter how many times I called her name. So I just followed her instead, all the way to the entrance and outside to the huge parking lot that was empty of people.

"What the hell is going on here mom? This entire trip you've just been telling me all these secrets that you've been lying to me about for thirty years. _Thirty years_ mom! I just want to understand, but I. just. can't. You're clearly not lying just for fun, I know you well enough to see that, but what is it then? Why has Aro got such a tight grip on you? So tight, that you don't even want to _try_ to fight back So tight that you _think_ the only option is to send me away so I don't have to suffer with you. Well guess what, I won't _let_ you suffer alone. I won't _let_ you take the hit for me or _anyone_ else you're protecting with this idiotic self-sacrifice thing you've got going on. We're in this together, we've always been in this together. Even if I only _now_ found out that my whole life's basically been a lie, we've still been in this together this entire time. Aro isn't just trying to control you, he's doing it for me, too. And I, _we,_ are not going to let him get away with this!", she spoke with an intense voice. I cold see all the frustration that ad been bubbling inside her for the past few weeks. Or probably much longer than that. I hadn't really thought that keeping her in the dark had ha an effect on her. I had thought it had been what was best for her. Maybe she'd suffered more than I had realized. Maybe not knowing anything about her real family had brought her more pain than I had thought.

"I'm sorry. So sorry. I have tried my best to keep you out of this for your own good. I guess I've failed completely, haven't I. I didn't want you to have to worry about all this. Especially since there's not that much that can be done. I have thought of every option there is, trust me. But there's no way for me to be free without someone I love _very_ much getting hurt. But if you refuse to leave, I won't force you to. We can make our life work in Volterra. And this time, there'll be no more lies", I said and winced internally as I realized I could never tell her about Amanda. Aro had wanted to kill all sirens and for all I knew he might still want to.

"I'd like that. Even if I don't believe there's no a way to fix all this. There has to be a way to get out of the deal you and Aro made. Has to. And like I said, we'll figure it out. Together, for once". Renesmee smiled and placed her hand on top of mine. I smiled back slightly even though I knew she was wrong. Aro didn't make mistakes so there really was no way around the fact that I'd always be trapped right where he wanted me to be. And if Renesmee refused to leave without me, he'd have _the both of us_. I gritted my teeth in annoyance at the thought.

* * *

Renesmee and I were getting ready for the musical we had tickets for. It was my favourite musical, Mamma Mia. It always made me smile and brought me to a good mood. Renesmee and I had seen the movie hundreds of times and we both knew the lyrics to the songs by heart. Jane was sitting in the corner of the room and she was reading something although she seemed not to pay much attention to it. Always just sitting there quietly in the background. The whole trip she'd kept her distance- she had always walked 60 feet behind us, waited outside while we shopped or ate and here in the room she always sat in that one chair completely motionless. Aro had sent her to keep an eye on us and she had definitely done that. But as I looked at the old vampire I realized that she deserved to have some fun too. She shouldn't have to just follow Renesmee and I around in circles. I had never particularly liked Jane- or any of the Volturi, really- but now I thought maybe she was just misunderstood.

"Jane, if you'd like to, I really think you should take the night off. I know Aro sent you to keep an eye on us but we'll be completely fine by ourselves at the musical. You've done your job perfectly well, you deserve to have at least some fun on this trip. So, whatever you want to do, just know that it's _fine_ ", I said and smiled at her.

She looked at me curiously for a minute, shrugged and spoke: "I don't know if I should. Then again, I don't really understand why Aro sent me here in the first place. If you wanted to run away, you would have run away years ago. So there's clearly something that's keeping you from leaving somewhere where we'd never find you." She was quiet for a while and looked out of the window. "You know what, I _will_ take the night off. Thank you, Bella. You know, you're not as bad as I thought you'd be."

I smiled even though I didn't know whether to be offended or flattered. Maybe I wasn't supposed to be either.

"Renesmee, honey, we're gonna be late! Are you ready soon?", I asked her while I looked at the bathroom door that had been locked for thirty minutes. Suddenly it opened and Renesmee walked out. I smiled at her with pride in my eyes. She looked very pretty with her floral dress and berry lipstick. She wasn't wearing any makeup besides that and she had put her hair up in a braid around her head.

"Sure, let's go."

* * *

We had just arrived at the theatre and we stood in line to claim the tickets I had reserved for us.

"Hello, I have two tickets under the name Masen, please", I sad as I smiled at the teenage boy-well he was pretty much a man- at the register. I watched carefully as he looked at the computer screen annoyedly.

"Is there a problem?", Renesmee asked over my shoulder.

"I'm s-sorry miss. There seems to be some issue with your tickets. It looks like there's only one here that is booked for you. And the show is fully booked...", he said seeming slightly intimidated by us. Perhaps it was my vampire side that got him so uncomfortable. Even though I was more humane than most vampires, humans were still often uncomfortable around me.

I sighed with annoyance. Great. I contemplated whether to let it go and leave with Renesmee but decided against it. The show was starting soon and I was sure that we'd be the last one's entering. If someone had left their ticket unclaimed up to this point, I doubted they would even show. I decided to give a go for some simple mind control.

I looked deep into the boy's eyes and concentrated. I had gotten better at controlling people since I became a vampire and now it was as easy as breathing.

"Are you sure there isn't _anything_ you can do for us? There's gotta be _one_ extra ticket", I said with a calm voice without taking my eyes off his. He seemed lost for a second until he proceeded to see the seating chart one more time. After a few seconds he was already printing us tickets.

"Here you go. Enjoy the show", he said with a blank voice. I hated mind controlling people. It took all the emotion out of them and made them act like robots. Sure, I got what I wanted, but most of the time I didn't want it like _this._ I pulled Renesmee with me as we started walking away, letting the man out of my influence as we walked. At the same time I was both happy and sad that I still felt bad for using my powers when it wasn't completely necessary. I didn't want to strip people from their free will. Especially not now when I knew what it felt like to be under someone's - Aro's, to be exact - control.

We walked inside in silence and stepped into the hall filled with people chatting happily before they could go to their seats. I couldn't help but smile at the light-hearted and excited atmosphere in the room. I took a look around the crowd until I noticed Renesmee looking curiously at a group of people in the back corner of the room. I followed her gaze nonchalantly, expecting to find a popcorn stand or something.

However, to my surprise I was greeted with eight sets of eyes I never thought I'd see again. Seven golden pairs of eyes and one piercing blue. I froze instantly at the sight of the eight of them. There were only seven people I knew with golden eyes like that. And only one who those ocean-blue eyes could belong to. And I couldn't be seen by anyone of them. I stood there for what felt like an eternity, frozen in shock.


	20. Chapter 20

**An:**

 **Hey guys! I hope you're all having a good summer wherever you are. For me that means that I'll have some time to write! This story will probably be ready by the end of the summer. Anyway, I hope you like this one.**

 **Till next time, Clarizza.**

 **Epov**

At first I didn't even recognize her. I had looked at her after hearing the strange heartbeat of the girl standing next to her. For the first second I saw her I thought she was the most beautiful person in the world. But then I realized that for me she _was_ just that. My Bella. As soon as I saw those golden eyes that were completely foreign yet so familiar, all memories of our time together came rushing back. If my heart hadn't been frozen in place for more than a hundred years, it definitely would have stopped beating now. I stared at her, unable to move. It was like my entire world was turning upside down. She was _alive._ And _here._ And apparently a vampire, I realized. In utter disbelief, I kept looking at the woman I never thought I'd get to see again, at the love of my life I had lost for god knows what reason. After what felt like an eternity but at the same time just a mere second, I became more aware of my whereabouts and looked at my family members for confirmation. Were they seeing her too or had I gone completely mad? I was surprised to find them looking ahead with a look of astonishment equal to mine.

I looked back at Bella and saw an inner conflict in her eyes. She was both terrified and in awe. Our eyes stayed locked until the girl next to Bella got her attention after many calls of her name.

"What is it?", the bell-like voice of the girl said.

Bella didn't answer. People had already went inside the theatre but all I could see was her. Still, none of us found it in them to move. And then Amanda broke the silence in the now empty hall.

"Bella? Is it you?", she asked and took a few steps closer.

Bella didn't answer this question either. She seemed lost for words.

"Yes she is. Now who the hell are all you?", the girl asked confused.

It was quiet again and none of us answered.

"They're old friends of mine. Renesmee, would you mind watching the musical without me. I think I need to.. catch up with them", Bella spoke hurriedly when she snapped out of the trance.

"Moo-om. I really don't care about it that much. I'd much rather get to know your friends here. Now where di-"

"Renesmee! Out. Now! You understand?", Bella said with fury in her eyes. Motherly fury, I realized. This girl, Renesmee it seemed, seemed to be Bella's daughter. So...had Bella gone off and had a kid with a human? And turned into a vampire afterwards? That didn't make any sense. Unless…

My thoughts were cut off when the girl stormed out of the room.

"Hi everyone", Bella said then turning to look at us. She looked ashamed yet emotional.

"Hi? HI? What is going on? Are you.. Did you.. leave on _purpose_?", Amanda snapped.

Bella opened her mouth but closed it for a lack of words it seemed. I could understand why, I was quite speechless myself.

"You're alive! Oh Bella, I've missed you so much!", Alice ran and hugged her.

"Not _just_ alive. You're a vampire! What the hell happened?", Emmet wondered aloud as he walked up to her. Everyone else followed but I stayed put. I was still in shock.

Bella's face was hopping from one Cullen to the other and she seemed to be completely overwhelmed by the situation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she spoke. "I'm sure you're all wondering what happened and where I've been all this time, but just gimme a minute. I'll explain in a second."

We all waited patiently so she could explain for us what we'd wanted to hear for thirty years.

She closed her eyes and took yet another deep breath that lasted only a second. Then she started speaking.

"So, firstly. _No,_ I did not leave on purpose. I would have done anything to stay. But I... Well, let's just say there was this _thing_ that happened that forced me to leave.. to Volterra."

Everyone expected her to explain what exactly she meant with that but she just continued with her story.

"Anyway, few weeks later I found out I was pregnant! And I didn't know what to do. There was a vampire baby growing inside me - growing fast - and it wasn't like I'd be able to deliver it on my own. So I asked Aro to get someone to turn me into a vampire straight after giving birth to Renesmee. And well.. we have lived in Volterra ever since."

Everyone looked at her in astonishment with their minds running wild but all I could think of was the baby that had grown into the girl I'd seen. Bella had a daughter that was partly a vampire. But that would mean that… _I_ had a daughter. My eyes widened at the realization.

"Bella, you didn't answer the most important question. Why did you leave? And why in the world would you leave for _Volterra_?", Amanda asked, almost furious.

Bella sighed and looked down at her feet before she spoke. "Aro came to see me that day, the day I left. He told me that the Volturi had hunted down every siren out there and that I was the last one. He never knew of Amanda's existence because he thought mom only gave birth to one child. He wanted to turn me into a vampire because he thought a vampire-turned siren would be some kind of an asset for the Volturi. He threatened to kill the Cullens if I didn't leave with him immediately. And.. I didn't want to risk them hurting anyone I care about and that included both _you_ and the Cullens", she said staring at Amanda with sadness in her deep eyes.

"Wait Aro blackmailed you? And that's why you've been with the Volturi this entire", Emmet said, not quite keeping track of Bella's unexpected story.

It all started clearing up as we took in what she had told us. All this time she'd been kept against her will. And we hadn't found her. Suddenly I felt angry for the fact that looking for her from the Volturi had never crossed my mind.

"Yes. But Renesmee can't know. We'll have to go back and Aro can read her mind. She can't know anything about you or else Aro will come for you. Especially you Amanda. He wants all sirens gone. He's only keeping me around because he thinks I'm on the Volturi's side. Which I'm not, not entirely at least", Bella spoke in a rush.

"Why haven't you tried to escape? Or contact any of us?", Alice wondered aloud.

"Like I said. I _have to_ do this to keep all of you safe. There's no way out of this, no way to trick Aro."

"Of course there is! You're not leaving back to that monster, not without us. We'll find a way", Amanda said.

Bella shook her head in despair. "I won't risk it. I won't risk putting anyone of you in danger."

I had been quiet this entire time but now it was my turn to speak.

"Bella. Amanda is right. You can't leave, it isn't right. You and Renesmee should stay with us until we figure something out."

Bella looked at me with wide eyes and I could see that seeing me and hearing me speak was what hurt her the most. In that moment I realized that she had missed me too. Likely not as much as I had her but still, she'd missed me.

"Trust me, I want to. But we can't. Our plane is leaving in a few days and.. Jane is here with us. She's here to make sure we don't try anything stupid. And coming with you would be exactly that, stupid", Bella said.

It was silent for a minute or two until Esme spoke softly. "Maybe we should go somewhere more private." With those words we decided to run to our house which was not that far away. There we would surely be able to discuss all the details.

 **Bpov**

Oh crap. How had I gotten myself into this mess? I mean, what were the odds of me and Renesmee going to the _exact_ show in that _exact_ theatre at that _exact_ time and meet the Cullens. The odds should have been nonexistent but apparently that wasn't the case. I was sitting in the Cullen's living room in their new Seattle apartment and I was still completely overwhelmed by all the emotion running wildly through me.

"Okay so here's what we know", Ethan began confidently. "Aro wants sirens dead but he doesn't know about Amanda. He wants you to stay with the Volturi but he doesn't care if Renesmee leaves. So you can't leave but Renesmee can. That doesn't really make much sense."

"We made the deal when Aro thought turning me into a vampire would give me some sort of unimaginable powers. He thought with me the Volturi would be unstoppable. I mean you know how he is, he has an eternal thirst for power and especially vampires with special powers. But unlike he thought, I didn't really get any crazy abilities. Just this", I said as I froze the water in Amanda's cup. "Yeah, nothing groundbreaking really. So _at the time_ he didn't care about Renesmee. He only cared about getting me for himself."

"Which he did", Emmet said with annoyance.

"And you're sure Aro wouldn't just let you go if you asked. If what you're saying is the truth, he doesn't really need you for anything", Carlisle said.

"I haven't tried talking to him but I doubt it'll work. Maybe he's just delusional and thinks that I'd one day turn out to be a threat if I was free. Or maybe he's just waiting for me to get the powers he thought I'd get."

We were all quite then. Everyone was deep in thought thinking about a way to save Renesmee and me.

"What if you two just disappeared? The Volturi would probably never find you", Rosalie suggested.

"They probably would. And if they didn't find us they'd surely find one of you. There are very few places you can hide where the Volturi can't find you."

"What about just fighting the Volturi? I'm sure they'd give up pretty quickly", Emmet said and laughed slightly.

We all glared at him in response, most of us slightly amused.

"I really don't see why you couldn't just stay here. Maybe they're just gonna forget about you two and let it go. I'm sure the Volturi have bigger problems to deal with than a pair of vampire-sirens", Amanda sighed.

"That could work. And in the meantime we could figure out a way to convince Aro to let you go. _If_ he were to come after you. He is an old friend and I'm sure he would understand reason if he realized that you aren't a threat", Carlisle said.

The more I stayed there with the vampires and my sister the more I thought Renesmee and I should stay. Here in the comfort of their home I could easily picture Renesmee and myself sitting on the sofa or preparing dinner with Amanda. But I knew that wasn't how it worked. Nothing with Aro would be that easy.

"Okay. We'll stay for a few more days. But then I'll leave. And if Renesmee still doesn't agree on starting a life free of Aro - without me-, she'll have to come with me too."

I could see that it wasn't the answer anyone of them had wanted to hear, but it was enough for them for the time being. I turned my gaze to Edward who had barely spoken since our reunion. Our eyes locked for a minute until I looked away and walked out of the room. I went outside to the porch to get some fresh air even though it didn't really make a difference for me. I needed to arrange my thoughts. Suddenly Edward walked out and sat next to me.

"I never thought I'd see you again", he spoke.

"I wasn't _supposed_ to see you ever again."

"Yet here we are."

"Here we are indeed."

We were quiet for a minute.

"Bella-" "Edward-", we spoke at the same time.

"You first", he laughed.

"I really missed you. And you can't imagine how many times I've wished to have you there. Especially with Renesmee. But I know it's been thirty years and a lot has changed. I want you to know that I'm not expecting anything", I said looking down. I loved Edward just as deeply and unconditionally as the day we parted but I knew he couldn't feel the same. There was no way Edward _hadn't_ gotten over me after all this time. And I didn't want him to feel like he was obligated to be Renesmee's dad or anything even if I wanted that so deeply. I looked at him when he didn't answer.

"It _has_ been thirty years. But those thirty years feel empty now that I have you by my side. I missed you too. So, so much. I-", he spoke and looked down at his hands with pain in his eyes.

"I died when you left", he said and turned to look at me.

"I'm not the same person you knew. I'm not the person you fell in love with."

"You are Bella Swan, right?", he asked with a smile. I had to smile back at him.

"Then I'm pretty sure I'll care about you no matter what skeletons you have in your Volterra-closet. I doubt I could ever not care about you." We smiled slightly at each other and Edward took my hand. We kept there, lost in the moment, until he kissed my forehead slowly like he used to. Slowly, like I was as fragile as a flower.

* * *

I left the Cullen house just in time to pick Renesmee up at the theatre. I called her as soon as I knew the show was over and she picked up immediately.

"I'm waiting for you outside", I told her before she could speak.

"Okay. I'll be right there", she said to the phone. It was a quiet car ride back to the Cullen house but I could sense Renesmee waiting anxiously for me to talk.

"You gonna explain what's going on?", she asked me a few minutes before we were there.

"We're going to stay with the people you met earlier for a few days. Like I said, they are old friends of mine. Vampire friends."

"Vampire as in my _dad_?"

I pursed my lips when she asked that. I didn't know if I wanted her to know that yet but I sighed and answered anyway: "Yes. They are your father and his family."

She didn't ask me anything for the rest of the car ride. She was probably trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was going to meet the person she'd wanted to get to know her entire life.

We walked inside and we were greeted with all of the Cullens standing in the hall. They were all looking curiously at Renesmee, who they now knew was Edward's daughter. Renesmee's eyes shifted from Ethan to Emmet, from Jasper to Carlisle and lastly to Edward. She was trying to look for similarities or anything that would have given away who her father could have been. I nodded to Edward and signaled him to come forward.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Renesmee. I don't know how much your mother has told you about me but I'm Edward", he spoke politely but seeming slightly unsure of what he was supposed to do.

"Your father", I added reassuringly. Renesmee took a sharp breath in before her face melted into a bright smile.

"Nice to meet you too", she said. "Aand everyone else?"

Everyone introduced themselves and Renesmee tried hard to keep up with the names. Lastly it was Amanda's turn and she looked at me without knowing what to do. I nodded at her.

"I'm Amanda. I'm your mother's twin sister. And a siren", she said with a smile.

Renesmee's eyes widened.

"Sister? You never told me you had a sister.", she accused me immediately.

"Do you remember how I told you Aro wanted to kill all sirens? Well, if he had known of Amanda he surely would have gone after her too. And I didn't tell you because your mind wasn't safe from Aro."

She nodded but I knew we would return on the topic later. There were more urgent things to deal with.

"So. How did all of you meet?", Renesmee asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"We met Bella and Amanda in Forks when we all went to the same high school. It was a slightly _rocky_ start but we figured it out eventually. And we were inseparable until.. Aro came. Amanda has lived with us ever since", Edward answered.

"And how did all of you meet each other? You are quite a big coven of vampires after all", Renesmee asked.

The night continued with the Cullens taking turns in answering all of Renesmee's questions. Every time we thought she'd heard enough she had a new question waiting for an answer. She wanted eagerly to hear everything there was to hear about the family she knew she belonged to. As the night went on the awkwardness faded and it was replaced with joy. Everything that had happened started just now sinking in. I realized just how much Renesmee and I had missed because we hadn't been there and I felt so indescribably happy for the fact that now we were. It might not last but at least we got this moment. This moment at home, for once.


	21. Chapter 21

**An: Sorry for taking so long. Hope you still like it!**

 **Bpov**

"I'm gonna go get some stuff for Renesmee and I. We left everything at the hotel", I said as casually as I could. I had to act normal so no one would suspect what I was planning to do.

It was three o'clock in the morning so Renesmee and Amanda were both asleep. Some of the other Cullens had gone out so now it was just me, Edward and Carlisle in the livingroom.

"I'll come with you. You probably need some help", Edward said.

"No need. I'll be fine. I'll be back before you know it", I said as I grabbed my phone from the table.

Edward looked at me, conflicted, but decided to let it be. Luckily. I needed to be alone for my plan to work.

"Bye!", I said quickly before I closed the door behind me. I felt the sting of tears in my eyes- well, sort of tears since being a vampire made actually crying impossible for me too. I shook my head and started driving away. This was not the time to let my emotions get the best of me. I had to stay strong and remember why I was doing this.

* * *

I arrived at the hotel and immediately saw Jane waiting inside our room: a fact that did not surprise me, I had expected as much.

"Where have you been?", she asked me with eyes filled with anger.

I didn't bother answering her.

"We're leaving early, Jane. So pack your bags. We need to leave for the airport in thirty minutes", I said and kept my voice cold and emotionless as well as I could. I tried to keep my thoughts on only the mission ahead but no matter how hard I tried, an image of a sleeping Renesmee crept to my head. In the morning she would find the letter I'd written to her, the letter where I would tell her goodbye for one last time. I was leaving for Volterra tonight, and there was no way Renesmee was coming with me.

Jane looked at me suddenly confused.

"Bella, is something wrong? And where is Renesmee?"

"She'll take a flight in a couple days. But we have to get going. Now."

"I don't understand. What could be this urgent?", she spoke quietly seeming deep in thought.

"Jane, let's just pack so we can go."

"No. We can't leave without Renesmee. Aro specifically told me to make sure both of you make it back to Volterra."

"Jane, just let it go. She'll come right after us, I promise. And besides Aro doesn't really care if Renesmee comes back or not. A part of our deal was that Renesmee wouldn't have to stay in Volterra all her life", I said as I packed. It was easier to keep my voice under control when I wasn't looking at Jane.

"But that was then and this is now. The terms of your agreement has changed. You aren't an asset to the Volturi like he thought you would be. Renesmee was only allowed to be free because we thought she would be of no use for us. Bella. Whatever you're planning, I can't allow it", she said and I saw her backing towards the door. She was going to try tracking down Renesmee.

"No jane! Please just let it go", I begged.

"I. Can't. I'm sorry, Bella", she said coldly as she neared the door.

"Jane! I'm telling you. Don't do anything! Just. Let. ", I almost shouted in panic.

In that brief moment something inside me changed. A warm feeling vibrated through my body and I almost had to gasp for air. Jane blinked and she froze in place. She kept her gaze ahead and seemed completely unaware of anything that was happening around her.

"Jane?", I asked quietly after a minute, surprised by the sudden swift in her behaviour.

She didn't move or react in any way. I looked into her burgundy red eyes but all I saw was her empty gaze that seemed to look straight through me. It was like Jane's small body had suddenly become empty and there was no one left inside.

"Jane. Jane!", I called her name as I rapidly shook her nonresponding body.

What had happened? I had never seen anything like this except when.. My eyes widened as the idea came to me. There was no other explanation. My power of mind control must work on vampires too. All these years I'd had this power but trying it had never even crossed my mind. The answer that I'd been looking for had been inside me all these years. I stood there for a few seconds thinking about what to do. Soon I realized that this power would definitely come in handy. At least, if I learned to control it. I focused hard on Jane and tried to break her free of my control. At first there was no response in her frozen-still body. But then, in a split-second, she was back to normal. She looked around dazed and confused. I spoke before she had the chance to gather her thoughts.

"Jane", I begun with an intense voice. "From here on out, you're going to do exactly as I say."

The dead robot-look took over her eyes once again. How would I know if it worked? She certainly looked like she was in a trance.

"Make a back flip", I ordered her as a test. Her feet left the ground before I'd even finished my sentence. She did a graceful backflip without hesitation. Wow. Jane, crazy powerful one-of-the-Volturi's-best-assets Jane, is literally doing backflips at my command. A part of me felt bad for mind controlling her but that part was well overpowered by the want of becoming free of the Volturi.

"Now, you are going to believe me when I say that Renesmee is taking the next flight. So step out of the way so we can leave for the airport.", I said with an involuntarily smile creeping to my lips. "And act normal!" I added. We didn't need any of the extra attention. And so we left and soon enough, we were on a plane for Italy.

* * *

When I wasn't planning my next move, I kept my head as blank as I could. Well, I tried to. The sadness that I felt bubbling inside me, the ache that I felt nagging on my soul, couldn't come to the surface. There was plenty of time for that when I was alone and all of this was over. Forever, actually. Forever, which I could be spending all alone without seeing the people I love ever again. I shook my head to shake off the thought. No, this was definitely not the time to be thinking about that. If my plan worked, I could see them again. No, I couldn't think about that possibility either. I tried to block all the thoughts of Renesmee, Amanda, Edward and all the other Cullens, but failed miserably. Every time a thought that was meant to distract me had run it's course, I saw Renesmee looking at me with a look of disappointment and betrayal. It was a long flight even if the effect of boredom had lost most of it's effect on me after about a hundred years of living. With every mile I neared Italy I was closer to where I knew I was supposed to be, but I couldn't help my heart aching for the house full of vampires in Seattle.


End file.
